Someone Else's Life
by 12 Withering Roses
Summary: Leigh Francis thought her life was normal until she discovered evidence on her parents' computer that suggested otherwise. With Mick's help, she discovers a dark secret behind her past. Meanwhile, Beth and Mick grow closer since Josh's death.McBeth,OC/OC
1. Incriminating Evidence

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz!

AN: Okay, so…I've been throwing around some ideas lately, and I'm going to attempt to write two fanfics at the same time. Not an easy thing for me, because I normally like to invest myself in one plot at a time and see it through to the end, but with all the ideas I have in my head, threatening to make it explode, I have to begin writing them. I promised the readers of my story Night Stalkers a sequel, and damnit, they're going to get one. So I'll be alternating between that sequel and this story, so there might be quite a while between updates…but I'll do my best. Anyway, enough with my chattering…on to the story!

Walking into the building, Leigh took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. For a moment, she vaguely wondered what the hell she was even doing there. Only the crumpled sheet of paper clutched tightly in her had reminded her of why she had risked everything to come here…she needed answers. She prayed to god that, while she was gone, nobody noticed her absence. If it was discovered that she'd left…well, she didn't particularly want to think about that.

The elevator arrived at the floor she'd selected within minutes. Her palms began to sweat. She wasn't even sure she wanted to know anymore…but there was a part of her that forced her to keep going. She'd come too far; she couldn't turn and run away now…not now that she'd risked everything for this…not now that she was so close.

Taking another deep breath and brushing some of her shoulder-length hair out of her face, she knocked loudly on the door in front of her.

MLMLMLML

Mick sighed. He'd been trying to get some sleep, but he'd had little luck. Now that he was just drifting off into an uneasy sleep, someone was knocking on the door. He grudgingly climbed out of his freezer and got dressed, doing so with lightning speed so that whoever was at the door wouldn't be kept waiting.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, Mick ran down the stairs, pausing only for a moment to allow himself the impossible possibility that maybe it could be Beth knocking at the door. He highly doubted it though; three weeks had passed since Josh's funeral, and since then she'd barely spoken to him. He'd given her space, not forcing anything…but he couldn't help the hope that maybe she would come around. He missed her terribly.

The cure had worn off mere days ago, though he still couldn't help but miss being human, even if the brief opportunity to be human again had given him the chance to let go, to say goodbye to it once and for all. It had helped him to finally come to terms with his vampirism…to embrace it.

He shook his head slightly, clearing his head of his numerous thoughts before walking over to the screen mounted to the wall beside the door. As he'd expected, it wasn't Beth on the other side. Instead, he was met with a girl of about seventeen or eighteen years old, with shoulder-length, vibrant red hair streaked with blue. She wore a leather jacket, combat boots, and a knee-length black skirt over fishnet stockings. She was extremely beautiful, but it was slightly obscured by the heavy black eye makeup she wore. She was about 5'10, and slim, but not too skinny. She had a distinctly determined look on her face.

Mick stood watching her on the screen for a moment before she knocked again, impatiently. He opened the door just as she was raising her hand to knock for a third time.

"Hey, sorry for the wait. How can I help you?" Mick asked the girl. She stood silently, taking in his appearance. After looking him up and down several times, she finally spoke.

"My name is Leigh. Leigh Francis." She said, a tinge of uncertainty in her voice. Mick noticed this immediately, but made no indication. She continued. "I-I'm looking for Mick St. John, the Private Investigator."

"Well, you came to the right place. I'm Mick." Mick smiled, extending his hand. Leigh took it uncertainly. Mick stepped aside, allowing Leigh to enter. Mick walked into the living room area of the apartment, while Leigh stood in the doorway. Mick noticed her hesitation and gave her a reassuring smile. "Why don't you and I talk in my office?" He suggested.

Leigh nodded silently and followed him into his office. Mick took a seat behind his desk and motioned for Leigh to take the seat on the opposite side. Leigh walked over to the seat and sank wearily into it. Mick regarded her for a moment across the desk before speaking.

"So…Miss Francis-"

"Leigh. It's Leigh."

"Alright, Leigh." Mick corrected. "What is it that you need my help with?"

Leigh sighed, clearly steeling herself for what she was about to say. She wanted to choose her words very carefully. Finally, she spoke.

"Look…I know this might sound really strange, but…well…I think there might be something wrong with my parents-"

Mick sighed.

"Look." He said, inadvertently taking on a somewhat patronizing tone. "You're not the first teenager to think that something's wrong with their parents. Everyone's parents are a little strange, but-"

"I'm not making this up!" Leigh cried, resisting the urge to jump up out of her seat.

Mick sighed, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to say without aggravating this girl any further. He decided to try a different approach.

"Look, Leigh. Unless you have any evidence to support this theory of yours-"

"How about this for proof?" Leigh asked angrily, thrusting the paper still clutched in her hand in front of Mick. Mick glanced at it and quickly fell silent. It looked to be a printout from a website. A website for missing children.

Mick held the paper up so that he could take a better look at it. On the paper there was a large picture of a thee-year old with straight brown hair in pigtails tied with red ribbons. The freckle-faced girl was smiling widely, showing a mouthful of tiny teeth. She wore a small, purple polka-dotted turtleneck shirt. Mick read the name on the bottom of the page. The little girl's name was Elizabeth Georgia McKnight.

Mick's eyes flew from he paper in front of him to Leigh sitting in the seat across from him. Despite the difference in age, it wasn't difficult for Mick, or anyone for that matter, to see that Leigh and little Elizabeth bore striking similarities. Mick knew that Leigh thought that she and Elizabeth were one in the same. Mick couldn't help but suspect the same thing.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Mick asked, suddenly taking on a serious attitude.

"Yes, I am. Can't you see that this little girl is me?"

Mick regarded the photograph again. The little girl had been kidnapped in 1993, when she was just three years old. Leigh was about the right age. And the physical similarity in appearance between the two girls was uncanny.

"I have to admit, there does seem to be a definite similarity between the two of you." Mick admitted, looking Leigh in the eye, a serious expression on his face. "How did you come across this?"

"Well…about a week ago, my parents went out, and I was left home alone." Leigh began. "I snuck onto their computer…I was curious what adults used the computer for." She shrugged. Mick found her comment a little peculiar, but allowed her to continue without interruption. "So I hacked into their system and came across a file with a list of names of people I'd never met before. This one in particular jumped out at me."

Leigh gestured to the piece of paper in Mick's hand.

"It seemed oddly familiar." She continued. "Like I'd heard the name before…maybe in a dream or something. So I cross-referenced it with a search engine on the net and this came up. I recognized the picture instantly…it's pretty hard not to recognize yourself, even if it is from years ago."

Mick looked at her. There was something slightly off about what she was telling him, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Leigh…" He began, "what did you mean when you said you 'wondered what adults used the computer for'?"

Leigh just looked at him as though he'd just asked what colour the sky was.

"I would have thought that would be obvious. I mean, the only reason someone who hasn't come of age uses the computer is for training."

Mick stared at her. He had no idea what she was talking about. "But…kids use the computer just as much as adults do. Haven't you ever just surfed the web? Played computer games? Listened to mp3's?"

"Uh…no. What the hell are computer games? And mp3s?" Leigh asked, looking at him as though he were crazy.

It was Mick's turn to look at her as though she were an alien. Then another thing she'd said struck him.

"Leigh…what kind of 'training' do you do on the computer."

Leigh looked at him again as though he'd just asked about the most obvious thing in the world. "Computer training…hacking, decoding, programming…the usual."

Mick looked surprised. How could she possibly think that being trained to manipulate computer technology like that was normal?

"Leigh…what exactly are they training you for?"

"For adult life…after the 'coming of age' ceremony, of course."

Mick was thoroughly confused now. "Is everyone trained like that?"

"Of course." Leigh replied…she couldn't understand why he wasn't getting it. This stuff was common knowledge.

For the next hour, Mick continued to question Leigh, who revealed some rather disturbing information. She told him that she lived in an isolated community, where leaving was forbidden. She explained that she'd risked severe punishment from the community tribunal by going there and asking him for help. She explained that what the children in the community read and watched, as well as where they went, was closely monitored at all times. She'd had a hard time sneaking off to see him. Also, from the time they were five years old, every child in the community began rigorous training in everything from combat to computer hacking, in preparation for the day they would leave the community after they came of age. She also explained that, in a month's time, she would turn eighteen. She explained that, on the eighteenth birthday of every child in the community, a 'Coming of Age' ceremony was held by adult community members. The coming of age ceremony was shrouded in mystery, because no community member under the age of eighteen was allowed to attend. Also, the day after their 'Coming of Age' ceremony, community members left the community. Only the parents of community members remained in the community.

Mick listened, fighting a sick feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach. This 'community' she was speaking of was beginning to sound more and more like some sort of cult.

With each of Mick's questions, Leigh became more and more sure that something was definitely wrong in her community. After all, it seemed that every time one community member came of age and left, their parents would bring home a new baby, or adopt a young child. She was also beginning to think that the way things worked in her community wasn't exactly the way things worked outside of it, like she'd always been taught to believe. New and disturbing questions began popping into her mind, each more disturbing than the last.

As Leigh was finishing answering one of his questions, a thought struck Mick, hitting him like a ton of bricks. Her scent! He hadn't paid much attention to it before, but now that he thought about it, there was definitely something different about her scent. She was human; he knew that much for sure, but there was an underlying scent…a vampire's scent! Mick realized that something definitely was wrong with her parents…and possibly her entire community. They were vampires! Mick vaguely wondered if she knew about the existence of vampires, but quickly realized that she didn't. If she did, she wouldn't have come to him to ask him to investigate her parents.

Which only raised more questions in his mind…how could someone live in such close proximity with vampires on a day-to-day basis and not know? If she did, indeed, live with vampires, surely she would know after fourteen years. And what exactly was this 'Coming of Age' ceremony?

"…So will you help me?" Leigh asked, drawing hi from his thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah…I'll look into it." Mick assured her.

Leigh pulled an envelope out of her pocket and threw it on the table. "Will fifty thousand cover it?"

Mick just stared at her. How the hell could this girl get her hands on fifty thousand dollars…in cash?

"Yeah, that'll more than cover it." Mick replied. "Are you sure you can afford fifty thousand dollars? And won't your parents notice it's missing?"

Leigh laughed. "My parents are a little more than comfortably well off. They won't notice. Besides, I hacked into a secret account they had set up for me for when I leave the community. Turns out it wasn't so secret. They won't suspect a thing."

Mick looked at her seriously and nodded. Leigh looked at her watch and jumped up out of her chair.

"Shit! I'm late! Look…I have to go. I stayed longer than I thought I would. And if anyone notices I'm gone…"

"I understand. I'll look into it for you." Mick promised, extending a hand. Leigh took it, before grabbing her bag and rushing out of the apartment.

Mick walked into his living room, standing for a moment in the middle of the room. He let out a breath, running a hand through his dark hair. He patted the pockets of his black jeans, looking for his cell phone, before finding it sitting on the coffee table. He sunk down onto the sofa, looking at the phone for a few minutes. He debated whether or not he should make the call. But he needed help with this…

He'd dialled the number before he had a chance to stop himself. He listened to the ringing; afraid she wouldn't answer his call. Which was why he was surprised to hear her voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello, Mick."

AN: Well, there it is. It's not much, but it's a start. As I predicted…not to mention everyone else in town…it was a snow day. So I was able to get this done sooner than I'd expected. The next chapter might take a while, though…I'm going to be working on a sequel to my story Night Stalkers at the same time, so I'll be alternating between them while writing chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter…please review! I need the love and inspiration.

Love always, Cat.


	2. Finding Common Ground

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz!

"Beth, I-" Mick began. Beth cut him off.

"Mick…I need to talk to you. Face to face." She paused. Mick said nothing. He could hear her take a deep breath on the other end of the line. "I was just wondering if…well…maybe I could come by your apartment and we could talk?"

Mick was silent for a moment. He didn't know what to say. He was stunned into silence. Beth took it as a no.

"Oh, well…it's okay, I mean…I understand why you wouldn't want to see me…" Beth said, her disappointment clearly evident in her voice. She sounded as though she were trying to fight back tears.

Mick suddenly found his voice. "What? No! I mean, of course it's alright if you drop by…" he said quickly, trying to keep her from hanging up. How could she have ever gotten the idea that he didn't want to see her?

There was an awkward silence on both ends for a moment. Beth spoke first.

"I'll be there in about twenty minutes." Then she hung up, and Mick was met with the dial tone. He held the phone in his hand for a moment, frozen, staring off into space. Then, realizing he still had the receiver in his hand, he laid it down gently. He cast a wistful look around him at his messy apartment. Clothes, dishes, various papers and files were all scattered around the room. He had always kept his apartment in immaculate condition…until this business with Beth and Josh.

After Beth stopped talking to him, Mick had become depressed and just let the place go. It was a huge indication of how deeply it had affected him. Of how profoundly _she_ affected him. He sighed to himself and then set to picking up what he could before she arrived.

MLMLMLML

Close to half an hour after he had called her, Beth found herself sitting in her car in the parking lot of Mick's building. She sat there, completely still, hands still resting on the steering wheel in front of her. She asked herself over and over in her head what the hell she was doing there. Hadn't she hurt Mick enough? She'd said some horrible things to him, things she regretted deeply. But could she really face him and apologize? Could she really stand to see the hurt in his eyes when she showed up at his door? Would he be bitter? Would he be angry? Most importantly of all…would he still be Mick? Or had she inadvertently killed the last part of Mick that made him…well…Mick.

Beth leaned forward and hit her head on the steering wheel a couple of times. She didn't really want to do this. She considered turning back. But she couldn't. She owed him this much, after all she'd put him through. She had to do this. If for nothing else than to soothe her own conscience, she had to apologise. No matter how awkward it was to face him…or how terrified she was.

Before Beth could have second thoughts about it, she found herself in the elevator. As the doors closed shut in front of her she realized with a sinking feeling that there was no turning back. She couldn't stand the thought of Mick being mad at her…even if she did deserve it. She'd rather just avoid him. But she couldn't. Not anymore.

She slowly approached the door, unsure of how Mick would react to her. He had called her, so surely he wanted to see her…but he could have called for any number of reasons…and she couldn't help but doubt that it was to ask her to get together for coffee. It was most likely for information. After all, he had gone three weeks without calling her…

As Beth raised her hand to knock, the door swung open unexpectedly.

"Hey Beth." Mick said with a warm smile, his arms full of various items. Beth was stunned. He was actually _happy_ to see her. After everything she'd said to him…he _wanted_ to see her. She felt horrible. The fact that he was happy she was there, after everything she'd put him through…it was even more unbearable than it would be if he were angry with her. Because she didn't deserve his warm smiles or kind understanding.

Mick stepped aside, opening the door wide and stepping aside so that Beth could enter the apartment. Beth walked in, looking around the place. Anything to keep from having to look at Mick. She noticed that the place was unusually disorderly. Against her better judgement, she turned back around to look at Mick, still with his arms full. Mick noticed where she was looking and gave a crooked smile.

"Oh…uh…well, the place has gotten a little messy these last few weeks. I hoped I'd have everything cleaned up by the time you got here, but…" He looked around with a slightly disgusted look on his face. He looked at Beth, a twinkle in his eyes, and shrugged. "It was a lot worse half an hour ago."

Beth just nodded at him. She couldn't bring herself to smile at his attempt at humour. His attitude that everything was normal, like none of the last few weeks had ever happened was almost physically painful. It only amplified the guilt she already felt.

In an attempt to distract herself, or maybe to make herself feel better, Beth bent down and began picking up clothes scattered across the floor. Mick dropped his armful of stuff and walked quickly over to her.

"Beth…no…leave it. I'll get it. I didn't want you to come over here so that you could play maid and clean my house."

"No, Mick. It's okay. It's the least I can do…" She said, continuing to gather clothes into her arms.

"Beth, it's okay. I've got it." Mick said again, a little more forcefully. He went to approach her.

"JUST LET ME PICK UP THE FUCKING CLOTHES, MICK!" Beth yelled, whirling around to look at him with wild eyes and becoming enraged. She didn't mean to yell at him. She was angry with herself…Mick just happened to be the easiest and most convenient outlet.

"Beth…put down the clothes." Mick said softly, walking over to her and gently prying her arms apart, sending the clothes toppling to the floor. Beth couldn't take it anymore. She finally broke down, bursting into a fit of tears and sinking down onto the floor, covering her face with her hands. She was ashamed of herself. She hadn't wanted Mick to see her like this.

Mick looked at her with a pitied look on his face. He hated to see her upset like this. He sat down gently on the floor with her and pulled her to him, hugging her and stroking her hair as he softly murmured reassuring words in her ear, rocking gently back and forth. Beth cried for a long time as Mick patiently held her and did his best to comfort her.

Beth must have cried for ten minutes straight. Sure, she had shed a few tears after Josh had died. But she hadn't really _cried_. Now she was truly crying, her body wracked with wave after wave of sobs as the intensity of her pent-up emotions struck her like a speeding Mack truck. She blamed herself for Josh's death…she hated herself for all that she had put him through since she'd met Mick. She hated herself for being so cold toward Mick these last few weeks, for hurting him the way she did. She despised herself for the things she'd said to him. She felt so alone in the world, so empty without Josh or Mick.

All of these emotions she'd kept at bay. Until now. Until she had come to Mick's. Until she was safe in his arms.

After about ten or fifteen minutes, Beth's sobs subsided and the tears gradually stopped. She just sat there for a while longer, in Mick's strong, comfortingly protective arms. Finally, wiping away the last of her tears, she went to stand up shakily, only to find herself too weak to support her own weight. She'd never realized how much energy crying takes out of a person until now. Her legs buckled beneath her and she fell back to the ground.

Having witnessed Beth's failed attempt at standing, Mick stood up himself and carefully and very gently picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the couch. He sat in a chair across from her and watched her silently as she sniffled slightly.

The silence that fell over them was deafening, the only sound penetrating the air being that of Beth's occasional sniffling. After sitting for a while in silence, Mick decided that he needed to break the tension.

"Would you like some coffee?" Mick asked quietly. Beth looked at him, a slightly pathetic look on her face and nodded gratefully.

"Yes please." She said quietly with a small sniffle. Mick nodded and walked into the kitchen to go and make some coffee. He'd had the good sense to pick up some coffee and a coffee machine when he'd found out that Beth was coming over.

As Mick walked back into the living room ten minutes later, cup of coffee in hand, he set it down gently in front of Beth before resuming his place across from her.

Beth picked up the steaming cup and took a drink before looking back at Mick, who was looking at her intently. She sighed, choosing her words carefully before finally speaking.

"Mick, I'm so sorry…for everything. I should never have put you in that sort of position. And I should never have treated you the way I did…I…it was unfair of me. I'm so sorry Mick…I'm sorry I hurt you. I hate myself so much for it. And I understand why you've been avoiding me these past few weeks. I understand why you hate me."

Mick looked at her, his face expressionless. He gave her a weak, sad smile before he responded.

"Beth…you have nothing to be sorry for. I know you were upset…you were grieving. You weren't thinking straight. My only regret is that I couldn't save him for you…but I couldn't, I wouldn't turn him. I wouldn't make him live an eternity of a life he didn't ask for. I couldn't do what Coraline did to me. I just couldn't…"

"I know Mick." Beth said softly. She wouldn't look at him, and she sounded as though she were trying to fight back tears. Mick continued.

"And as for this whole 'avoiding you' business…I wasn't avoiding you Beth. And I sure as hell don't hate you. Where on earth did you get that idea?" Mick asked her, staring at her intently. Beth still wouldn't look at him.

"If you don't hate me…if you weren't avoiding me, then why couldn't you have picked up the phone?" She answered his question bitterly with another question. She was still looking away from him.

"I did." Mick answered. "I called you, remember?"

"But Mick," Beth protested, anger and hurt rising in her voice. She finally dared to look up into Mick's eyes. She was startled to find a look of hurt and confusion there. "Three weeks. Three weeks and not a word from you. Not a phone call, not an e-mail…nothing!" She couldn't help the wave of bitterness that swept over her as she said this. She'd felt so…abandoned. By both Josh and Mick.

Mick just looked at her with big dark, innocent eyes. "I didn't think you wanted to talk to me. I was trying to give you space. I didn't exactly think I was the person you most wanted to talk to. So I kept my distance. I didn't want to cause you anymore grief than you'd already been put through." He said quietly. Then he smiled a small smile. "I was waiting for you to call me…if you ever decided you wanted to again. To tell you the truth, I was beginning to lose hope that you would ever speak to me again. I thought _you _hated _me_." Mick's voice had gotten more and more quiet throughout his speech, until his voice was finally barely more than a whisper.

Beth looked into his eyes. "I tried to call you…several times. I even had the phone in my hand. I wanted more than anything to talk to you…to try to make things right. But I guess I was so scared that you were angry with me that I couldn't bring myself to do it." She looked away immediately after she'd finished speaking. There was silence again as Beth picked up her coffee and drank deeply. The hot liquid scalded her throat, but it was easier than having to look at Mick through the extended silence. She finished off the cup and finally had no choice but to look at him. She was startled by the deep-cutting sadness she saw in his eyes. He looked a little hurt that she'd have even thought something like that.

"Beth," he began softly, his piercing eyes locked on hers. Try as she might, she found it just impossible to look away. There was an urgency to his gaze, as he willed her to hear and to believe every word that left his mouth. "I could never be angry with you over what happened. It wasn't your fault…it was just so much to handle…all at once. You didn't know how to take it all. It's natural."

"But I should never have taken it out on you." Beth sobbed, fresh tears making their way down her face. Mick's heart broke for her. He got up and walked over to the couch, tentatively sitting beside her. Then he pulled her into his arms for the second time that night, letting her get all of her tears out. Whatever was upsetting her, whatever she had managed to bottle up for the past few weeks…it needed to come out. And Mick was going to make sure that he was there to support her now that the floodgates were breaking.

When Beth had once again finished crying, he gently wiped the tears from her face. He could sense the anguish she was feeling…the loneliness. Mick waited patiently for her to continue.

"I'm so sorry Mick, it's just…after Josh died, I pushed you away…the only other person on earth that could bring me some sense of comfort. And suddenly I found myself all alone. And I felt…abandoned. By Josh, for leaving me like this, and then by you, because I figured after the way I treated you, you'd never want to see me again."

Mick looked at her sadly. He couldn't believe she'd think he'd abandon her like that.

"Beth…I'd never abandon you like that." He paused. "I _didn't_ abandon you."

Beth looked at him with a question in her eyes. He smiled a small smile and continued.

"I may have kept my distance, but I never left you. I just didn't let you see me. But…I have been keeping an eye on you. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Beth looked at him, surprised. She was surprised that, after the way she'd treated him, his only concern had been for her own well-being. She realized then how much he truly did care about her. And she hated herself more for pushing him away.

Mick smiled sadly, sensing her guilt and seeing the look of self-loathing that spread across her face. He pulled her into his arms yet again, taking in her intoxicating scent and gently stroking her head. Beth closed her eyes, her head resting on his chest. It was comforting, just having him close like this.

"It's okay Beth…I've already forgiven you. Now you just need to forgive yourself." Mick quietly murmured. His chin was resting against the top of her head.

Beth was clinging to him for dear life, almost afraid that if she let him go, she'd lose herself forever in the darkness that had surrounded her since Josh's death. She felt safe again…for the first time since Josh's death she felt that old sense of security that she'd almost forgotten. She felt like she'd been wandering aimlessly until now. Hearing Mick say that, she felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted off her. She felt the exhaustion creep through her body as she felt the knot that had been in her chest for the past three weeks finally subside. She felt like she could fall asleep right then and there, in Mick's comforting arms. But she couldn't.

She finally pulled away, a slight smile on her face and tears forming in her eyes again. Only this time, the tears weren't because she was upset…the were tears of relief and, to an extent, of happiness. Happiness at the prospect that things between her and Mick were okay for the moment. She had a feeling that there were still a lot of things left for them to sort through, but the fact that Mick didn't hate her was enough at the moment.

Mick shot her smile. She smiled back…genuinely smiling for the first time in…she couldn't even remember when the last time she'd truly smiled was. Suddenly, a question popped into her mind…a question that had left her mouth before she'd even had time to think twice about it.

"Mick…are you still human?" She blurted. Realizing what she'd just asked, and the way she'd asked it, her face took on a horrified look and her hands shot quickly to her mouth.

Mick gave her a slightly sad, reassuring smile, as if to tell her it was alright, before he answered.

"No…the compound wore off a few days ago. I'm back to my old self again." He tried to smile, but Beth could see that it was strained.

"Oh, Mick…I'm so sorry. I know how much it meant to you…" she paused. She felt guilty that she hadn't been there for him during the short time he had been human again. She should have been there for it. It was one of the most important times in his undead life. But she'd been too absorbed in her own thoughts and emotions to think of his.

Mick could sense what she was thinking. He sighed almost inaudibly. If he'd truly been that self-loathing, he could understand now why Josef had always tried to get him to lighten up.

"Beth, it's alright. You don't have to feel guilty. You were dealing with a hell of a lot…you were really messed up. You still are. I understand why you couldn't be there…and I know if you could have, you would have been."

Beth just looked at him guiltily.

"I still wish I had been." She whispered. Mick smiled.

"I know." He answered softly.

"What was it like? Being human again?"

"It was amazing." Mick said softly. "For the first time in years, I was able to taste food again. I was able to sleep in something other than a freezer. I was able to take a walk…in the middle of the afternoon! I went to the beach…went sailing. I got to really live again. I did everything I missed being able to do as a human." He paused. "And while I miss being human again, the short time I spent as a mortal gave me the opportunity to finally say goodbye to my humanity. It's helped me to come to terms with being a vampire…to accept myself as I am."

Beth smiled at him sadly. "I'm glad for you. And I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you."

"Beth, I told you…it's okay. Let it go." Mick said with a smile. Beth smiled back and nodded. She glanced at the clock. It was going on ten o'clock. She'd been there for hours…she hadn't even noticed the passage of time. But at least she'd gotten everything off her chest. She and Mick had finally found some common ground again.

Looking back at Mick and feeling a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach at the prospect of returning to her cold, empty apartment, Beth sighed.

"I really should be getting home." She said, gathering up her coat and bag as she stepped over the clutter on the floor.

Mick stood up as Beth walked over to the door. He'd seen the look of apprehension that had crossed her face at the mention of her returning home. It didn't take vampire senses to figure out that she didn't want to go back there.

"Beth…wait." Mick said as Beth reached the door. Her hand still resting on the handle, Beth turned to face him. Mick ran a hand through his hair before he continued. "Why…why don't you spend the night here?"

Beth looked at him for a moment, as if trying to gauge whether or not he was being serious. Mick looked at her earnestly.

"I couldn't…I mean, I wouldn't want to make things awkward…or to impose on anything…" Beth said, although Mick could see in her eyes that she was considering it.

"You wouldn't be imposing on anything, and it's obvious you need the company…in fact, I'd feel better if I could have you close…so I can keep an eye on you. Make sure you're okay."

Beth looked at Mick and nodded silently, a grateful look in her eyes. She really didn't want to go back there…it was too quiet and empty. It was full of too many painful memories. "Okay…and thank you, Mick."

"It's no problem." Mick said with a weak smile. He took a look around him at the mess scattered across the floor and quickly ran upstairs. He returned a moment later with a pillow and blanket and laid them on the couch.

"Sorry about the lack of a bed…I've never bothered to get one. It would just take up space, anyway." He said with a grin.

"That's alright." Beth said. "I could sleep on a bed of nails right now."

"Oh, well, if that's what you'd prefer…" Mick quipped, a grin spreading across his handsome features. Beth couldn't help but laugh.

"Uh, no thanks…I'll stick with the couch." She giggled.

"Yeah…the nail bed's buried in a closet somewhere anyway." Mick said. Silence settled between them as they stood looking at each other for a minute. Mick rubbed the back of his neck with his hand while Beth played with the zipper on her jacket. Finally, Mick spoke.

"So…uh…I don't really have any food here, so…if you get hungry, feel free to order a pizza or something." Mick said.

"Thanks, I will." Beth replied.

"Oh, and here, by the way." Mick said, holding a folded pair of sweat pants and a long-sleeved shirt out to Beth. "I thought maybe you'd want a change of clothes to sleep in."

Beth took the clothes and nodded gratefully. "Thank you Mick…for everything."

"Anytime, Beth." He said. He set about setting up the couch as Beth retreated into the washroom to change.

Beth emerged from the washroom to find the couch set up as a bed and a glass of water resting on the coffee table. Mick looked up as she entered the room.

"I took the liberty of getting everything ready for you." He said, looking somewhat anxious. Beth smiled at the look on his face and walked over to where he stood beside the couch.

"Thank you…it's perfect." She said as she flung herself into his arms, wrapping hers tightly around him. Mick was stunned for a moment, but quickly shook it off and returned her embrace. They stood hugging for a long time before Beth finally pulled away. As she climbed under the thick blanket spread across the couch and took a sip of the water, Mick turned to head upstairs. Just as he reached the first step, he was stopped by her voice.

"Mick?"

"Yeah Beth?" Mick said, turning to face her. She looked as though she were debating with herself as to whether or not she should ask the question that was on her mind.

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

Mick looked at her for a moment before he slowly walked over to her.

"Yeah, of course I will." He said with a smile. She reminded him of a small child that was afraid of the dark. He took a seat in the chair across from the couch, watching her. She gave him a small smile before murmuring a final 'thank you' and turning over to go to sleep.

Mick sat watching her long after she'd fallen asleep. He listened to the slow, steady beat of her heart and her soft breathing. He almost didn't want to leave her. She'd been through so much…she needed him. But it wasn't really the fact that she needed him that kept him glued to his seat…it was that he needed her. There would be time to sleep later…time to think about Leigh's case…right now, he just wanted to revel in the fact that Beth was no longer angry with him, and just enjoy the feeling of her being so close.

AN: Well…that chapter took a while. Sorry if it's a lot of droning on, but I was trying to get the mood just right. I had originally planned to make this short, so that I could get back to Leigh, but I had to get this out of the way, because it kind of sets the story up for the subplot of Mick and Beth getting past everything that's happened. And, of course, being the perfectionist I am, I had to make it as realistic as possible and had to get the mood and the emotions just right, so it morphed into this big long chapter. Although, even now, there are still some parts of it I'm less than satisfied with. But…Shrugs here it is. Please review and tell me what you think. I think it's a bit weak in some places, but maybe I'm just being overly critical. So enjoy…and I promise, the next chapter will be MUCH more interesting…it's mainly going to focus on Leigh and her life in the community.

Love always, Cat.

P.S. I'm majorly psyched…three days till I turn sixteen (March 5th) so…Woot Woot!


	3. Cayleigh Francis

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz! But there is no monetary gain…so I'd really appreciate it if you'd call off the bloodsucking (sorry Mick, Josef, etc.) attack dogs known as lawyers so that I can come out from under the rock I'm hiding under. Much appreciated.

AN: Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter…it made me feel better about the chapter as a whole. Oh, and thank you to all who extended Birthday Wishes. It was a pretty cool birthday overall…my friend's cat up and decided to have kittens that day, which was SOO cool…not to mention the fact that I had a day off thanks to the snowstorm that decided to pummel us. Then, yet again, we Ontarians got thrashed two days later…but that's not really much of a surprise, now is it? Anyway, so yeah…without further ado, onto chapter 3!

After leaving the apartment of Mick St. John, Leigh hurried to hail a taxi. Getting in, she had the taxi take her to a point about a half-mile away from the Community. As she paid the taxi driver and began to climb out of the car, she was met with the taxi driver's confused gaze in the rear-view mirror.

"Hey, kid…are you sure you want me to drop you off here? I mean, we're right in the middle of nowhere."

"Yeah, I'm sure, thanks. I'll be fine." She reassured the driver, giving him a weak smile as she slammed the car door. With a final glance back, she watched as the driver gave a small shrug and drove off in the opposite direction. With a final glance at the watch on her wrist, Leigh sighed and began to make the trek home.

MLMLMLML

After nearly an hour of walking, Leigh finally reached the edge of the Community. She sighed to herself. From here on in, she was going to have to be extremely careful due to the fact that the Community was very closely monitored. Getting out of the Community earlier that day had been hard enough; and that was when she had known exactly where everyone was. Now it was going to be twice as challenging: she had no clue who might be nearby as she was attempting to re-enter unnoticed.

Picking her way down the single dirt road through the woods that surrounded and secluded the Community; she came to the bridge extending over the river between the woods and the walled Community. There was only one way across the river: the bridge. That was the only way a person could enter or exit the community. Thankfully, she had managed to sneak past when the Gate Operators had been changing shifts. Now, however, it appeared that she was going to have no such luck. The Gate Operators seemed to Leigh to be more like armed guards than anything; and Leigh knew that they were indeed trained in combat.

Until now, she had never questioned the reasoning behind the way the community was run. True, she had always had her suspicions that things weren't quite right, but asking such questions were forbidden in the Community; it was as simple as that. Leigh had always just assumed that, despite how utterly crazy things in her Community seemed, they were simply the way things were done everywhere. That even though they might seem strange sometimes, they were simply the norm. Her brief venture out of the Community today had shown her just how wrong she was.

Now, looking at the Community, she realized that her suspicions hadn't been so far-fetched after all. Before today, she'd never even been outside the Community, yet even the miniscule amount of time she'd spent on the outside gave her an indication of what things should be like. What normal was. And looking at the Community now, she realized that things were anything but normal.

Leigh suppressed the countless questions that arose in her mind as she looked around her, taking stock of the situation. It hadn't occurred to her that she would run into so much difficulty when the time came for her to get back inside. Taking refuge in the cover that the trees provided her with, Leigh picked her way through the trees that ran along the river's edge. She found herself praying with everything in her that there was another way for her to get across the river further downstream. It was imperative that she get back before people realised that she was gone. If they hadn't already.

After walking for what seemed like forever, Leigh's prayers were finally answered. Well, sort of.

Having walked for at least half an hour through the woods along the wall of the Community, she came to a huge, ancient-looking tree. It was at least fifty feet tall, with huge branches that extended several feet outward from it. What made this tree so significant in comparison to the other trees was the fact that it had a large branch that extended outward across the river and came to a stop just before it reached the wall. Looking at it, Leigh figured that it looked as though it just might be able to hold her weight. She groaned as she realized what she was going to have to do.

"What? Do you honestly hate me _this much?!_ Do you _enjoy_ fucking with my head like this?" She said aloud, dropping to her knees and looking up at the sky with her arms held out at her sides, hands balled up into fists.

She really didn't want to have to do this. If there was any other possible way, any at all, she would have gladly chosen that, even if it had meant something like swimming through shark-infested waters. But she knew in her gut that there was no other possible way to get back in. Unless she did this, she would be stuck out here until the guards changed shift…and by that time, people would notice she was missing.

Heaving a sigh, Leigh slung her backpack/purse onto her back and began to climb. It was an extremely slow and difficult climb, considering that she was fighting with every ounce of her being against the crippling terror that rose up in her stomach. Leigh didn't like heights…in fact, she had been terrified of falling all her life. Despite the fact that her parents had insisted she be well-trained in rock climbing and whatnot, she had always preferred for her feet to be planted firmly on the ground.

"Well, at least my lessons came in handy for _something_." Leigh muttered under her breath, trying to think of anything but the fact that she was nearly twenty feet up from the ground and still climbing. She chanced a look down at the ground and immediately regretted that decision, flinching and pulling herself closer to the trunk of the tree, frozen in place. She inhaled and exhaled deeply several times, willing her knees to stop quaking. Finally regaining control of herself enough to (at least for the most part) stop herself from shaking, she finished the ascent to the branch.

Sitting on the branch for a moment to regain her composure, Leigh guessed that she was at least twenty-five feet up. With shaking knees, she stood up, gripping the trunk of the tree for support as she steeled herself for what she knew she was going to have to do next. After standing and leaning against the trunk for about five minutes, holding on for dear life, she finally let go and began the walk across to the end of the branch.

After ten minutes of slowly edging herself along, she finally managed to reach the end of the branch. Taking a deep breath, she silently thanked God that she'd worn her combat boots that day. Their thick, treaded soles provided extra traction as she edged her way along. Now that she'd reached the end of the branch, she was forced to face the most terrifying part of this whole experience: She had to jump from the branch to the top of the wall, and then from the wall to the ground below.

Forcing herself to look down, she had to fight extremely hard to suppress the urge to vomit. Her breath was rapid and erratic and she could feel herself begin to sweat profusely. She quickly judged the distance and estimated that it was about a ten-foot drop to the wall, and another fifteen after that to the ground below.

Leigh closed her eyes and took a deep breath in. Ten feet was a long way down. And that was considering she even made it to the wall. There was a rather frightening chance that, because the branch stopped just short of the wall, Leigh could end up missing the wall and dropping the entire twenty-five feet to the ground below. This being the first scenario that popped into her terrified mind she was more than a little afraid of taking the leap.

Opening her eyes suddenly, Leigh backed up a few steps and, before she could stop herself, ran right to the edge of the branch and leapt into the air, arms stretched out in front of her. For one terrifying moment, Leigh thought that she had jumped too soon, that she was going to come just short of the wall. Her stomach dropped out from under her and panic rose up in her…until her outstretched hands found cold concrete. Resisting an overpowering urge to scream, she clung to the wall for dear life, her breath heaving. She wasted no time in hoisting herself up onto the top of the wall and, feeling yet again like she was throwing her life away, she brought herself up into a crouching position on top of the wall and leapt off. She would have waited for a moment at the top of the wall, but she knew that the longer she remained there, the greater the risk was that she would be seen.

Leigh's fall took very little time, and she landed on the ground with a soft thud. She dropped to her knees upon landing and fell face first into soft, green grass.

She lay there for a moment, eyes closed, heart beating loud in her ears, recovering from the trauma of the fall. Her feet certainly hurt a little, but thankfully her heavy boots had helped her to avoid serious injury to her feet and ankles. In fact, she barely even had a scratch on her. Most of her recovery was simply psychological. Coming face to face with that type of fear certainly warranted a couple of minutes of relaxing calm to recover.

Finally feeling her heart beat slowly begin to return to normal, Leigh opened her eyes, sat up, and looked around her. To her extreme delight, she found herself in a very familiar and comforting place. She was on the very edge of the Community, in an area that had been set aside as sort of a park. The nearest house was a fifteen-minute walk away, and just barely visible in the distance. Leigh found herself surrounded by open, empty fields of grass, cut in half by a portion of the river that had been diverted into the Community when it had first been built. Or so she'd been told.

Here and there along the river's edge trees poked up through the landscape. Wild flowers grew rampant and unchecked all over the place, so that the grassy slopes were dappled with rainbows of colour. Birds chirped happily in the trees and there was a gentle gurgling as the clear water of the river flowed.

With a grateful and relieved sigh, Leigh stood up and began walking along the bank of the river. After using a nearby fallen log to cross over to the other side, it took her no time at all to locate her favourite tree. Grinning, she gently ran her fingers over the bark and sank down onto the soft ground beneath it. It was an ancient willow tree, and Leigh truly loved the way the leaves hung down, providing a semi-transparent shade on all sides.

Leigh reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. Punching in some numbers, she waited patiently as the other end of the line rang.

"Hello?" A voice answered after five rings.

"Hey Kyle, it's me." Leigh answered, a grin spreading across her face. She crossed one combat-boot clad foot over the other as she settled back on the ground. Her left hand held the phone to her ear, while the right one was tucked underneath her head as a makeshift pillow.

"Leigh!" Kyle answered. His voice took on a tone of concern. "Where are you? How'd-"

"Not now, Kyle." Leigh interrupted. "Not over the phone. Meet me at the usual place. I'm here waiting for you."

"Alright. Give me fifteen minutes." Kyle said. The line went dead.

Reaching for her bag, Leigh stuffed her phone back in the front pocket and waited patiently.

After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, Leigh finally saw the silhouette of a body through the leaves of the willow tree. As the body came closer, Leigh stood up in greeting. A huge smile crossed her face as the leaves of the willow were pushed aside by a large, masculine hand. Kyle stepped in through the curtain of leaves, a grin plastered on his face as he took in the sight of Leigh. Within seconds, he'd crossed over to her and pulled her into his strong arms, pressing his lips to hers with a hurried, feverish motion. Leigh reciprocated the action, parting her lips and running her tongue across his. His opened immediately and their kiss deepened into a hungry, passionate one. Leigh's hands snaked up behind his back and into his medium-length dark brown, almost black hair. In response, Kyle tightened his grip on her and vainly attempted to bring her closer to him. Meanwhile, their tongues circled each other, clashing in a whirlwind of need and longing. They spent some minutes kissing like that, wrapped up in each other, until finally they had no choice but to end it for fear that they'd suffocate. Finally breaking the kiss, Kyle took a step back and took in her appearance.

"You're not hurt or anything, are you?" He asked, running his blue-grey eyes over her, looking for any sign that she might be injured. Leigh stared into his face with her emerald green ones, reaching up and drawing his eyes back up to hers.

"I'm fine." She assured him with a smile. He looked at her seriously for a second before nodding, sitting down on the ground and pulling her into his lap.

"So how'd it go?" He asked, kissing the side of her head and lacing his fingers in hers.

"Fine," She answered simply, turning in his lap so that she could take in his appearance. He was extremely handsome, with soft features. His hair was curly, jutting outward at the sides. He had a strong, chiselled jaw and white, straight teeth. Today he was wearing a black, faded t-shirt and a pair of jeans that were ripped at the knees. He looked at her with a loving, patient expression as he waited for her to continue.

"And?" He prompted. Leigh's smile faded from her face and she took on a suddenly serious expression.

"And…it was different. You were right…you've always been right. Something is definitely off around here."

Kyle just nodded silently. Leigh continued.

"I met with a man…Mick St. John. He's a private investigator. And he's going to look into the…the thing."

Kyle nodded again. He knew perfectly well what 'thing' she was talking about. He had been the first person she'd called after making the discovery…he was the one she'd told about her plan to leave the Community. He'd suspected for years that there was something wrong with the place…he'd always told Leigh that. To some extent, he figured that she'd always known that something was wrong as well…she'd just chosen to ignore it. Until she'd made her discovery last week.

Despite his suspicions about the Community, Kyle had disagreed with her decision to leave in search of answers. He knew just as well as she had the consequences of such actions should she be caught, but she'd stubbornly insisted on going anyway. In the end, all he could really do was pray she didn't get caught. He'd worried the whole day through as he'd waited for her to get back.

"But what I saw out there…" Leigh said, bringing Kyle back to the conversation at hand, "…it was nothing like life in the Community. It was totally different."

Kyle looked at her for a moment, silent. Then, "Different…how?"

Leigh spent the rest of the evening sitting under the willow tree with Kyle, explaining all that she had seen and everything that Mick had told her.

MLMLMLML

By the time Leigh had finished talking to Kyle and they had gone their separate ways, it was long past dark. She walked through the eerily empty streets of the Community, which could really only be described as a perfect incarnation of suburbia. The streets were lined with huge, luxurious houses with white picket fences and perfectly manicured lawns. Each house had a minivan parked in the driveway and here and there a bicycle was dropped haphazardly on the front lawn.

Turning a corner, Leigh walked up the driveway of her own huge, luxurious, immaculate house. It was brown brick on the outside, with a brown-shingled roof and a huge window in the front. The curtains were drawn over the front window, indicating that her parents had gone to bed long ago.

Opening the heavy Oak front door as quietly as possible, she crept inside without making so much as a sound. She quietly shut the door behind her and removed her boots. Tying them together by the laces, she slung them over her left shoulder and gently crept past the living room entryway to her left and onto the carpeted stairs. No sooner had she reached the third step than a voice rang out behind her from in the dark living room.

"You're late, Cayleigh. You missed your curfew."

Leigh grimaced at the use of her full first name and turned to find herself face to face with her father. He was tall, about 6'1, with black framed glasses and greying brown hair. He looked up at her with stern brown eyes, his arms crossed over his chest in a disapproving manner. He wore crisp black slacks and a beige button-up shirt. He still looked rather young for his forty-five years.

"I'm sorry, father. I was hanging out by the river. I lost track of time." As she said this, she put all thoughts of her venture out of the Community out of her mind. Instead, she filled her mind with the memory of sitting by the river with Kyle.

As far back as she could remember, Leigh's parents had always had the uncanny ability of being able to tell when she was lying. No matter what she did, no matter how solid her story was, they could always see right through it. She had always hated them for it, especially because she knew full well that she didn't have any tells whatsoever. She was a master at deception. For all accounts, they should have had at least some difficulty detecting her lies. Yet they had somehow seen right through her façade.

Until, that is, she had discovered a way to lie without being detected. Somehow, she had stumbled upon the realization that if she believed what she was saying, then her parents had great difficulty deciphering whether or not she was lying. Leigh was at a loss as to how or why it worked, but it seemed that if she pictured in her mind what she was saying, and convinced herself that it had really happened that way, then her parents believed it as well.

Simply imagining it had worked for a while…until one day her parents stopped believing it. Then she'd had to take it one step further. She'd begun to have to come up with an excuse and actually enact it, so that she had actually done it. Because she'd actually done it, she could then push all other thoughts out of her mind and focus on that memory, so that _technically_ she wasn't lying at all. Although it was a tedious process to have to go through every time she needed to lie, it was well worth all of the work. Her parents could no longer tell whether or not she was lying.

Leigh's father looked at her for a second, scrutinizing her.

"Are you sure? Is there anything else I should know?" He asked, looking at her with those piercing eyes that seemed to look through her and directly into her soul. Leigh focused hard on the belief that she had been with Kyle the whole time. She convinced herself that it was true.

"Yeah, that's it." Leigh responded, not breaking eye contact with her father. After a tense moment, her father's expression softened and he nodded.

"Very well. This won't happen again. Is that understood?" He asked, his voice stern and commanding. Leigh nodded. "Then off to bed with you now. It's nearly midnight."

Leigh nodded. "Thank you father. It won't happen again."

Then she turned and headed upstairs, leaving her father alone in the front foyer. With a sigh, he walked into the living room and sat down in a seat across from his wife.

Leigh's mother was about 5'8, slightly shorter than Leigh, with brown eyes and long, dark brown hair. Her eyes were a light hazel colour. She was a raving beauty with a long, pointed face and was rather pale. She looked to be about thirty-seven years old, although she was really nearly forty.

Leigh's father looked at her mother and sighed. "She's becoming increasingly good at that. Lying, I mean. There was no change whatsoever in her heart rate or her breathing. Still…it's obvious she was hiding something."

Leigh's mother looked up from her magazine. "What are you going to do about it, Robert?"

Leigh's father was silent for a moment before replying. "Nothing." He said finally. "It's only a month until the ceremony. We're too close to go and destroy it all now. After she's come of age, it won't matter anyway."

Leigh's mother nodded in agreement and went back to reading her magazine, every once in a while taking a sip from her travel mug.

"I'm going to get a refill." Robert announced finally, finishing off the contents of his own travel mug. "Would you like one too, Brenda?"

"Yes, please dear." Leigh's mother replied, finishing the contents of her mug.

"Are you in the mood for any specific flavour?" Robert asked, rising to his feet. Brenda thought about it for a moment before replying.

"You know what? I think I'm in the mood for some O positive."

TBC…

Aannd…cue to evil cliffie!

AN: Well, sorry it took so long, but I finally finished chapter three. Thanks to it being March Break and all, I've got lots of time to spare for writing. That and the fact that I really don't have anywhere specific to go, considering there's about two feet of snow outside, and no city workers to clean it up. :D Anyway, hope you enjoyed and please feel free to make any suggestions. I look forward to reviews. And thanks again for reading. :D Oh, and don't worry…next chapter we'll get back to some more Mick and Beth. :D I just wanted to use this chapter to really focus on and develop Leigh's character and give you a little glance into her life in general, and a brief look into the Community. I'll go into a little more detail about it later on in the story.

Love always, Cat.


	4. The Two Elizabeths

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill

Disclaimer: By now, I'm sure you all know the drill... I own nothing. Believe me, if I did…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich right now. I do, however, own this plot and any characters I decide to throw in. Yayz! But there is no monetary gain…so I'd really appreciate it if you'd call off the bloodsucking (sorry Mick, Josef, etc.) attack dogs known as lawyers so that I can come out from under the rock I'm hiding under. Much appreciated.

AN: Well…sorry it's been so long since my last update. I'm finally beginning to get my life back into the routine I broke before Christmas…slowly but surely getting back some small semblance of the normal my life used to be. Right now, though, it's just chaotic. Well, good news all…the city worker's strike in my town finally ended after 7 weeks (SEVEN LONG, DANGEROUS, ANNOYING, SIDEWALKLESS WEEKS!) so…hopefully sometime next week I'll be able to step outside my front door and find a freshly plowed sidewalk. Here's hoping. But at least we haven't had any major snowstorms since the one during March Break that dumped two feet of snow on Ontario, although I'd better shut up about it now before I jinx it and we get more massive dumpings of snow. I'd just like to add that another justification for my lack of updates is my recent bout of insomnia…it's been a long and sleepless week. So forgive me for taking so long…I've spent much of my free time trying to catch up on the sleep I missed. But I hope to hammer out as much as humanly possible, considering it's a long weekend. Which brings me to my final point of this long and pointless Author's Note…HAPPY EASTER, ALL! May the Easter bunny bring you lots of holiday goodness…and perhaps another update sometime in the near future? : D Anyway…onto chapter 4!

Mick hadn't gone to sleep that night. He had retreated to his freezer in the wee hours of the morning, only after spending several hours sitting and staring at Beth's sleeping form. But even after he had finally gone to his freezer, he still did not sleep. He simply lay awake for a few hours, until finally he had reached a point where he was past trying to delude himself with the notion that he would actually get some sleep that night, finally climbing out of his freezer and dressing.

Creeping softly down the stairs, careful not to make any noise that might possibly wake Beth, Mick grabbed his car keys and decided to go out for a drive. It was just past five a.m. Taking a final look back at her peacefully sleeping form, Mick quietly shut the door behind him and locked it using his special remote key.

MLMLMLML

Mick drove aimlessly around the nearly deserted L.A. street, marvelling at the unusual emptiness of the city, even for this hour in the morning. Passing an all-hours grocery store, a thought occurred to Mick. When Beth awoke, she would no doubt be hungry. Since he was out anyway, Mick decided that he might as well pick up something for her to eat for breakfast. 

He knew that things between him and Beth were okay for the moment, but that didn't stop him from continuing to feel incredibly guilty for not being able to be there when she needed him the most. He hadn't been able to take care of her like he felt he should have. Therefore, he was determined to make up for it now, now that she was willing to let him. He would take care of her now like he hadn't been able to during the past three weeks. As God was his witness, he vowed with everything in him that he would earn back the part of her he had lost. He would once again be the man she had always believed him to be.

He turned his car into the parking lot of the grocery store, determined in his own mind to make things between him and Beth as close as possible to the way things were before all of this. Because, although he knew that things were okay, they had a long way to go yet before the broken bridges between them could be mended completely. 

Climbing out of his car, Mick entered the grocery store, wondering silently to himself if Beth would rather have Belgian Waffles or Bacon and Eggs…

MLMLMLML

She was covered in blood. It was everywhere. The hot, sticky substance flowed out beneath her fingertips, soaking through the heavy cloth she was pressing over the wound. Panic rose up in her throat. It was happening. Again. And she had no way to stop it.

"B-Beth…" He tried to speak. She silenced him.

"Josh…don't talk. You're going to be fine. Just stay with me." She pleaded, tears rising up in her. There was a vaguely vacant look in Josh's eyes as he struggled to find his next breath…to hold on for just a little longer. She felt the hot, salty tears pour down her face. She didn't even try to stop them. She knew what was going to happen. She'd watched it happen over and over again. But she just couldn't bring herself to accept that this was the end for him. She had to save him. Because if she could just keep him there with her…keep him from slipping away, then maybe, just maybe, she might wake up in the morning and find him next to her, very much alive and breathing, and discover that his death was just a horrible, seemingly endless nightmare. "Josh…please don't abandon me. Don't leave me alone here. I can't be alone now. I'm not strong enough." She whispered, fresh tears making their way down her pale, terrified face.

Suddenly, Josh looked at her with an ugly, angry expression.

"But you won't be alone, Beth." He told her, his voice suddenly strong and clear and cold. "You'll have Mick. In fact, I bet you're just thrilled that I'm gone. It's not like you ever really loved me anyway. It was all about Mick. I was just an inconvenience, just in the way. Well, now you can finally be happy with him…now I'm out of the way. You didn't even try to save me, did you?"

"No! No, Josh. That's not true. I loved you! You have no idea how much I loved you. And I did try, dear God, Josh, you have no idea how hard I tried to save you! I'm still trying, Josh!"

"Yeah, I can see. And you're doing a spectacular job at it, too." Josh snarled, raising his head to look down at the bloody cloth pressed to his wounds. Despite the pressure Beth was applying to it, the blood soaked through anyway. 

"Josh, I'm trying!" Beth cried desperately, now positively hysteric. She pressed harder, vainly attempting to stop the flow of blood.

"Beth, just give up the act…I know you were relieved when I died. You were happy, because it meant that there was nothing stopping you from being with Mick. It's your fault this happened, Beth!"

"Josh, I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…but I wasn't happy when you died. It was never about Mick-"

"So tell me, then." Josh cut across her, bitterness evident in his voice. "If I had proposed, what would you have said?"

Beth was silent for a moment, Josh's words cutting her deeply. "Josh…that's not fair!" She finally managed to blurt out.

Josh scoffed as he replied. "Yeah…exactly what I thought. Have a good life, Beth. I hope Mick makes you happy. And I hope you can live with my blood on your hands…"

With that, Josh laid his head back down on the ground and resumed his position, the vague expression returning to his eyes. Then, he was deathly still.

"NO! NO, JOSH, PLEASE! I'M SO SORRY! DON'T LEAVE ME. JOSH! PLEASE DON'T ABANDON ME!"

"Josh!" Beth awoke whimpering his name, tears pouring from her eyes. She was startled for a moment, her surroundings unfamiliar from her bedroom, where she had awoken from the same nightmare for the last three weeks. 

It took her a moment to remember that she wasn't, in fact, at her apartment…she was sleeping on Mick's couch. 

"Mick?" She called uncertainly into the darkness of the living room. There was no response. "MICK?" She shouted a little louder. Still nothing. She got up and wandered up the stairs, looking into each room for Mick's freezer. Finally, when she found it in the room with the grey door, she wandered over to the freezer and looked inside. It was empty. 

Needing Mick, needing to feel herself in the warm, soothing embrace of his comforting arms, Beth suddenly began to panic. "MICK!!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, running to again check all of the upstairs room before heading back downstairs to search there. 

After repeatedly searching the downstairs of the apartment for Mick, screaming his name the whole time, she came to the horrifying conclusion that he wasn't there. Finally abandoning her search, Beth sank back onto the couch, breaking into hysterics, bringing her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly as she rocked back and forth, crying hysterically. She'd had the dream many times before, but never had it affected her so profoundly as it had tonight. Perhaps it was because she was beyond being able to just bottle it up anymore. So she sat, unable to stem the flow of tears, finding herself abandoned. Completely alone. Again.

MLMLMLML

When Mick returned to his apartment, it was shortly after six a.m. He had been gone an hour. He was sure that Beth would most likely still be asleep right now…though, truth be told, he preferred it that way. He would much rather have the opportunity to prepare breakfast for her before she awoke anyway. 

As Mick unlocked his door and entered, however, he was startled to find Beth very much awake. And in hysterics on his sofa. 

Beth looked up as soon as she heard the door unlock. Mick walked into the apartment with a bunch of grocery bags. He'd barely even had time to set them down on the floor before Beth flung herself at him, hugging herself tightly to him as she continued to cry into his chest. A worried expression crossed his features as he encircled her in his arms, hugging her tightly. He mentally kicked himself. 

He'd vowed that night that he would be there for her now, now that she was finally willing to let him. He'd promised himself that he would be there for her more than ever. Yet, once again, he had been absent when she had needed him the most. He'd failed her again.

MLMLMLML

It took Mick quite a while to get Beth calmed down enough to be able to speak coherently, although when he asked her what had upset her so, she vehemently refused to say anything other than 'It was just a dream. Don't worry about it.'

When he persisted, she still flat-out refused to talk about it; so, despite feeling as though he shouldn't Mick decided that it was best to just let it go. Instead, he made her breakfast and coffee.

After Beth had finished her breakfast, Mick decided that it was as good a time as any to bring up the subject of Leigh's case with her. During his time out, he had been trying to think of how to best bring it up with her. He didn't want to make it seem like that was the only reason that he'd called her, but at the same time, from what Leigh had said yesterday, it sounded urgent. He couldn't afford to waste any time. But still…

He was so confused. Leigh needed his help, and soon. That much was abundantly clear. But at the same time, Beth was in an extremely fragile state of mind. He didn't want to press her to help him, but at the same time, he desperately needed her investigative skills with this case. He drew in a breath, trying to phrase what he was going to say.

"Beth…" He began. Beth looked up from her Belgian Waffle.

"Yeah, Mick?" She asked. Her eyes were still slightly red and puffy from crying, and her voice still sounded watery, but she was looking considerably better than she had earlier that morning when he'd come back to find her in tears.

"I have to tell you…there was an ulterior motive to my phone call last night…" He stopped when he caught sight of the look in her eyes. They'd immediately filled with fresh tears. He wanted to smack himself. He'd said the wrong thing. Again. He couldn't help but notice that he had a knack for such things. 

"So…you didn't just call me last night because you wanted to talk to me?" She asked. Mick's heart broke at the fact that her voce was shaking slightly.

He tried quickly and desperately to rectify the situation.

"No, Beth…that's not what I meant. Not at all. Of course I wanted to talk to you…I just…" He paused, trying to think of a way to best explain it to her. He decided on the words that first popped into his mind. They were the honest truth, so invariably they were the right ones. He hoped. "I just didn't think you wanted to talk to me, is all. I wanted so much to call you, but I was so sure that you hated me that I wasn't sure if you'd be willing to listen. I figured if I had a reason to call, an excuse, you might just be willing to hear me out."

By the time he finished, his voice was barely more than a whisper. He found himself staring at a spot on the counter in front of him, unable to look her in the eye. He wasn't normally this forthcoming with his emotions. Usually, he preferred to hide them and appear stoic and unfeeling. Beth was the exception to the rule. She was the only one who had managed to reach deep enough to be able to pry them out. She was the only one he had let in. He wasn't used to leaving himself open and vulnerable like that. 

When he finally found the strength to look up into her eyes after a period of extended silence, he was relieved to see that the hurt look in her eyes had disappeared. 

She looked at him with understanding. She had, after all, been of the same mind these last weeks. That, should she call him, she would need an excuse. The only difference was that, even though she had come across many opportunities, she hadn't quite been ready to face him yet. And so she had suffered, alone, lost, and in silence.

"Oh." Beth breathed after a while.

Mick, relieved that he had managed to avoid making her cry again, managed to find his voice again. 

"Yeah." They sat and looked into each other's eyes for a long moment. A long, silent moment. Mick found himself drawn to her, leaning in. Beth did the same. They got closer and closer, until their lips were almost touching. Just a little closer…

Beth suddenly turned her head away, blinking her eyes against the fresh tears that threatened to fall as Josh's words from her dream echoed through her head.

Mick blinked several times and shook his head, slightly disoriented.

"Mick, I'm sorry…I just…I can't." Beth again found herself pushing him away. And she hated herself for it. But she couldn't handle this…not now…

All she could really do right now was pray to God that he didn't take it the wrong way. She didn't know if she could survive him turning his back on her. He was all she had left in the world now…without him, she would be completely alone. The past three weeks had shown her how truly terrifying it was to be completely alone in the world…and the thought of being alone again terrified her more than anything in the world. She needed comfort. She needed Mick. But she couldn't be with Mick…it would be a betrayal to Josh. 

Mick caught the expression on Beth's face and, for the umpteenth time that morning, mentally kicked himself. He was a horrible person…he was suddenly disgusted with himself for how willing he had been only a moment ago to take advantage of her fragile state. He couldn't…he wouldn't betray her like that. So soon after Josh's death, she would no doubt be looking for comfort from him…and she might do something she'd end up regretting. He wouldn't let her do that. She wasn't in the right state of mind to decide where things stood between them, and it would be unfair of him to ask it of her.

"Oh…it's…it's okay. I understand." Mick said. He quickly changed the topic.

"Anyway…the other reason I called last night was because a client came to see me yesterday…a very peculiar client."

"How so?" Beth asked. She looked relieved that they were changing the topic, as well as the fact that Mick, for his part, did not seem overly angry right now.

Mick looked at her. "You're not even going to believe this."

MLMLMLML

Mick had spent nearly an hour relaying to Beth his conversation with the mysterious teenage girl named Leigh Francis that had shown up at his door yesterday. He explained to Beth in detail everything the girl had told him about her "Community. Everything except the part about her thinking she had been kidnapped as a child. He left that to the end, still trying to decide whether or not to tell her. He was afraid it might bring back painful memories for Beth. After everything they'd been through with Coraline…after uncovering all of those repressed memories, he was sure that Beth would much rather just forget he whole ordeal.

By the time Mick had finished, Beth looked extremely bewildered.

"You were right." She finally managed to spit out. "I don't believe it. It sounds like something you'd see in a Horror flick."

Mick nodded. "There's something else…" He decided that he should tell Beth the real reason the girl had come to him in the first place. Leaving Beth looking slightly bewildered, he left the room to retrieve the printout that Leigh had given him from his desk. He came back into the room a moment later, clutching the paper in his hand. Hesitating slightly, he handed the paper to Beth. 

Beth took the piece of paper Mick offered her and stared at it for a moment. She felt a stab of emotion…exactly what emotion it was, she couldn't exactly say…but she felt as her throat constricted slightly. She looked up at Mick for confirmation.

Mick nodded grimly. "She thinks this is her…and, having seen the similarities between her and the girl in the picture, I'm inclined to agree."

Beth stared back down at the wide-eyed toddler in the picture. Her emerald green eyes were a stunning contrast to the girl's dark brown pigtails. She had a wide, toothy grin, miniature white teeth on display for the world to see. Unlike Beth, this little girl had had no Guardian Angel, no safe return to her undoubtedly devastated parents. No happy ending. No Mick.

Mick saw a wide assortment of emotions flicker across Beth's face as she regarded the photograph. He knew this was a touchy subject for her, but she had to have all the facts in order to be able to assist him with this case. He needed her to understand what they were going up against.

"Her poor parents…" Beth finally managed to choke out, not taking her eyes off the little girl's smiling face. She finally read the girl's name and felt an icy shock run through her body. The girl's name was Elizabeth. They shared a name. This realization only served to remind her how close she had come to being this little girl once upon a time…lost forever to her parents, to the world. Beth finally looked up into Mick's face, putting her words together. "I mean…after all these years…they must think she's dead. Can you imagine…having your child disappear off the face of the earth and never knowing what happened to them?" Her voice began to crack with emotion.

Mick sighed. "Not all kids are found right away, Beth. Some are never found. But if this really is her…if we finally have found her…this is our chance to give her parents some closure. This is our chance to finally bring this little girl home." He looked her seriously in the eye as he said this. Beth just nodded. 

"Okay," she said, "Let's get to work." She looked back at the picture of little Elizabeth McKnight. No matter what, she was determined that she would reunite Elizabeth with her parents. She would give Elizabeth the happy ending that Mick had given her so many years ago.

TBC…

AN: Yeah, so…again, I'm sorry. Another long Mick/Beth oriented chapter. But I figure I did alright on it. The story progressed at least a little bit. So…:D I'm slowly but surely making headway. The next chapter will mainly focus on Leigh again…on what her everyday life entails, introducing more characters…perhaps even on some of the exciting plot I'm itching to reveal. Muahahahaha! I can guarantee you all, as utterly complex as the whole conspiracy theory plot will be, it will be amazing! I'm so excited about it…:D Anyway…Happy Easter Everyone!

Love always, Cat. 


	5. Nightmares and Conspiracy Theories

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Moonlight, no, there's no monetary gain, and yes, I would like to be a Jason Alexandwich

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Moonlight, no, there's no monetary gain, and yes, I _would_ like to be a Jason Alexandwich. Wait…can anyone sell me the rights to _them_? (Evil Grin)

AN: Yeah, so…as I promised, a very Leigh oriented chapter. I'm hoping soon that I can reveal the conspiracy theory…I'm excited about it. Anyway…not a whole lo to report lately…other than the fact that I realized the other day that there just so happens to be a cat skeleton in the display case of my science room…yeah. Nearly half a semester in there and I happen to notice this only a few days ago…lol. Anyway, yeah…onto the chapter! Teehee.

_She was playing in a ball pit. Like any three-year old, she loved the ball pits. Loved the feel of the smooth, colourful orbs on her skin as she bounced and frolicked through them. She climbed out and headed up the stairs and to the top of the slide. It was very crowded in the play area…lots of children running around, pushing, shoving, and screaming. But she liked it that way. She loved the interactions. Being the only child in her family, she craved the presence of other children…even if they were loud and annoying. She reached the slide, with some difficulty due to the other rambunctious children running around, and slid down, landing in the ball pit, giggling madly._

_"Lizzie!" She heard a woman's voice call. She obediently ran over to the black string netting surrounding the ball pit. With pudgy toddler hands, she grasped the netting, her emerald eyes boring into an identical set on the other side._

_"Yes, mommy?" Lizzie asked._

_"Sweetie…it's time to leave. We'll come back soon, okay?" The kind face of the woman on the other side was kind, but stern. "But mommy!" Lizzie protested, "We just got here!" The woman giggled. "Sweetie, you know that's not true. We've been here for over an hour. It's time to go. Mommy's getting tired. She needs to sleep." Lizzie looked at her mother's growing tummy and sighed. Mommy and daddy had told her that there was a baby in there…but she somehow couldn't imagine it. Still, the baby was always making mommy tired…and as excited as she was at the prospect of being a big sister, she was slightly angry with the baby for cutting into her playtime. "Just five more minutes, mommy! Pleeaasse!" Lizzie begged. Her mother looked at her sternly. "Lizzie, I said it's time to go." Her mother said firmly. She was beginning to look angry. Lizzie stared right back, standing her ground as well._

_"Five more minutes. Please!" Lizzie begged. Her mother sighed and smiled despite herself._

"_I'll make you a deal, Lizzie. You get one more trip down the slide, then you meet me over there at the bench." She pointed to a wooden bench not far away from the ball it. Lizzie smiled and nodded. _

"_Thank you mommy!" _

_Lizzie's mother smiled and sighed to her little girl. _

"_Honestly, Lizzie. What are we going to do with you? You're so darn stubborn! But…" She smiled lovingly at Lizzie. "At least you have a mind of your own. Promise me that'll never change, baby."_

"_I promise mommy. I love you." Lizzie grinned, running off up to the slide. _

"_Remember, __one__ slide, then you meet me at the bench!" Lizzie's mother called after the girl before turning around and heading over to the nearby bench._

_Lizzie happily climbed up to the top of the very tall tube-shaped slide. At the top, she waved at her mother, who waved back, before she sat down and let herself be carried into the ball pit. Still squealing with delight, Lizzie remembered her promise and got up out of the colourful plastic balls and rushed over to the entrance of the play area in behind the ball pit. She put on her small Lambchop Velcro shoes and skipped out of the play area. She was just about to run around to the front of the play area when she suddenly felt someone take hold of her little arm in a very strong grip. She became frightened and began to struggle against the grip, but it was no good…she was just a tiny three-year-old. Before she could scream for her mommy, she felt a cloth being pressed to her face. She inhaled sharply in surprise, and almost immediately felt all of the strength leave her little body. She fell limply into surprisingly strong hands, being lifted easily into muscular arms, her tiny head lolling onto an unknown shoulder before she was carried off into the blackness…_

MLMLMLML

"Mommy!"

Leigh was awoken suddenly by the impact of hitting the carpeted floor of her bedroom. Sweating profusely, she sat up, disoriented, and took in her surroundings. She was safe, at home, in her bedroom. She swore loudly as she pulled herself up off the floor, still trembling from the all-too-vivid nightmare.

She'd had similar dreams every night since she'd discovered the file on her parents' computer. They'd been very vague at first…just flashes of a little girl…playing with a puppy…opening presents…playing with dolls…but as the nights had passed, her dreams began to get more and more detailed and vivid.

A few nights ago was when she had first heard the girl's name. Lizzie. It sounded vaguely familiar to Leigh. Like she recognized it from somewhere within the depths of her troubled mind. Leigh had gotten to the point now where it was almost like she was living two lives…her life during the day, but at night…someone else's life. It was beginning to just plain scare her. And there were very few things in the world that Leigh was actually scared of…

This was, however, by far the most vivid dream she'd had. She hadn't in any of her previous dreams seen the woman. Lizzie's…mother, right? Yes. That sounded right.

Leigh tried in vain to remember the woman's face. What had suddenly been clear to her only a moment ago was now clouded and vague by her consciousness. All she could remember of the woman were her eyes…eyes startlingly similar to Leigh's.

Shaking her head, Leigh got up and stumbled, half-blinded by the morning sun creeping in her bedroom window, into the private bathroom off her bedroom. As soon as she reached the sink, she turned on the cold water full blast and thrust her cupped hands underneath the icy flow. Leaning over the sink, she brought cupped handfuls of water to her face several times, feeling herself awakened completely by the refreshing icy liquid. She rubbed some water on the back of her neck, and then through her sweat-soaked red-with-blue-streaks hair. Still feeling the heat radiating off the top of her head, she gave up rubbing handfuls of the icy water through her hair and just stuck her whole head under the tap.

After her whole head had been thoroughly soaked, she pulled her head out of the water, turned off the tap, and groped blindly for the towel that hung on the nearby towel rack. She felt her fingers close firmly around the rough material of the towel and dried her face and hair quickly.

She closed her eyes for a second, trying to maintain her grip on reality. Inhaling deeply, she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror. She saw…herself. For a moment, she wasn't even sure what she thought she might see when she opened her eyes. The face of three-year-old Lizzie, perhaps? Lizzie's mother? She wasn't even sure anymore.

Leigh sighed as she stared at her own tired, scared-looking reflection. Over the last little while, ever since she'd discovered the file on her parents' computer, she had begun to lose her grip on reality. She wasn't even sure what she thought anymore. On the one hand, she had a safe home with her two loving, doting parents. On the other hand, she was faced with the horrible reality that her entire life could be built upon a foundation of lies…a foundation that was beginning to crumble beneath her feet.

She couldn't understand these dreams she kept having, either. Dreams where she was, in fact, little Elizabeth McKnight. She couldn't help but think that they were simply her imagination overreacting to the situation and conjuring up false memories…and yet, they were so vivid. They felt so…_real_. But at the same time…if they _were_ really memories from her early childhood…wouldn't she remember them? Especially something so traumatic as being kidnapped? If they were, in fact, memories of her kidnapping…and her childhood before…then why were they only beginning to surface _now_? It was the fact that these dreams were only occurring now, _after_ she found the file, which led her to believe that perhaps it was simply her mind playing tricks on her.

She regarded her reflection closely. She could remember that Lizzie's mother had vibrant green eyes, exactly like hers, and brown hair. That was the extent of what she remembered of her dream. Leigh decided that her mind had probably built the image of the little girl's mother based on her own appearance…after all, her brain was so convinced that she was, indeed, the kidnapped little girl that maybe…just _maybe_…it had created this image of its own suspicions. Leigh's natural hair colour _was_ brown…and her eyes were a vibrant green…

Leigh shook her head as she leaned on her hands, which rested on the black and white marble counter on either side of the sink. She shook her head in an attempt to clear the jumbled mess of thoughts from her head and walked out of the stylishly painted black bathroom and back into her bedroom.

Looking mournfully around the immaculately clean room, from the navy blue walls to the white carpet, to the black curtains, and at last to her dark blue bedspread.

She walked over and closed the curtains quickly, flopping onto her bed with a sigh. As soon as she hit the bed, she heard a soft hiss and felt a wriggling movement beneath her. She sat up quickly, straightening her black pyjama t-shirt and looking down at her red polka-dotted flannel pyjama pants before turning back to the bed. On the bed was a pure black shorthair cat. It was currently giving her a very pissed off, reproachful look.

"Sorry Doom." She said. She reached out and gave Doom a scratch behind the ears. Doom instantly forgot about Leigh's misdemeanour as he purred and rubbed up against her hand.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Leigh realized that she didn't have any classes, anywhere to go…for the first time in as long as she could remember, she could go back to sleep if she wanted to. She had a whole day completely to herself. She had completed her final sessions of all her classes two days ago…she'd graduated with honours from each. For the next month…right up until her birthday, she would merely need to keep her skills sharpened at her own pace, on her own time. She had nothing left to learn…she'd learned it all. Yesterday she'd kept busy with sneaking out of the community…had gotten up early to plan and whatnot…but today…today she had nothing. And so, she seized the opportunity and climbed back into her bed, cocooning herself in her warm blankets and drifting off to sleep once more, still stroking the purring Doom, who had moved up to lay down beside her pillow.

MLMLMLML

It was mid-day now. Leigh had finally managed to drag herself out of bed at 11:30 a.m., only at the repeated insistence of her parents. Her parents had told her that, just because her classes were finished, it didn't mean that she got the freedom to sleep all day for the next month. And so, Leigh had gotten dressed and wandered aimlessly through the nearly empty streets of the Community.

Wandering into the park of the junior schoolyard, Leigh seated herself on one of the swings and waited, swinging gently, becoming lost in her own thoughts. She wasn't sure exactly how long it was that she sat there, but she found that she was startled out of her reverie by the buzzing that indicated that class was over, and that it was time for the children to take a two hour lunch break.

Leigh stood up and headed for the door, smiling as she passed masses of young children who all waved cheerily on their way to the playground equipment. All of the children knew her…she'd even taught some of their classes every once in a while, performing demonstrations and such.

Leigh had always had an aptitude for anything and everything she set her mind to. She'd always been head of the class in all of her lessons, and she had often been asked by teachers for the younger grades to come in and do demonstrations and lessons for the class. Classes were often very strict and challenging…pushing each child to the limits of their strength and intellect. Leigh had often gotten the most uncomfortable feeling that they were more like future military recruits than actual schoolchildren.

She pushed aside these thoughts when she caught sight of the one child out of all she had been looking for…Jessica Becking, her nine-year-old next-door neighbour.

"Leigh!" Jessica cried, her little grey uniform skirt ruffling around her knees as she ran.

"Jessie!" Leigh called back, running forward and meeting the girl halfway. Leigh picked Jessie up, flung her over one shoulder, and spun around in circles until they both collapsed on the soft grass of the schoolyard, dizzy and laughing hysterically.

Being an only child, Leigh had always liked being able to teach the younger kids. She especially liked Jessie, having grown up next door to her. Jessie was the closest thing she'd ever had to a little sister.

"So…what class do you have next?" Leigh asked Jessie. Jessie sighed.

"Hand-to-hand combat training." The little girl replied. "But I don't wanna do it…I don't like hitting people. And it hurts when I get hit."

"I know…" Leigh replied, pulling the little girl into a hug. "But it's something you have to learn."

"Will you be teaching us today?" Jessie asked, sounding hopeful.

"Sorry, Jessie. Not today." Leigh responded. For a while, the two of them lay back on the grass in complete silence. Neither one spoke for what seemed like forever. Finally, little Jessie voiced what she had been thinking so intently about.

"Leigh?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yeah Jessie?" Leigh answered, turning over to lie on her stomach so she could look the little girl in the eye.

"I don't want you to go."

"Go where?" Leigh asked, confused. Jessie sighed.

"After your ceremony. You'll have to leave the community. I don't want you to go."

Leigh looked into Jessie's angelic blue eyes. Her curly light blond hair framed her scared, upset little face. Leigh wasn't sure what to say to cal the girl's fears. It was hard to think about how to quiet Jessie's fears when Leigh was terrified herself.

"I know. But I have to." Leigh replied quietly. "It's the rules. Everybody does."

"But I'll miss you." Jessie replied quietly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

Leigh attempted to smile. "It's a month away anyway…" She paused as Jessie stared sobbing openly and loudly. Leigh's heart broke for the little girl. She pulled her into a firm, reassuring hug as tears welled up in her own green eyes. "I'll miss you too, Jessie." She said quietly.

MLMLMLML

6 p.m. found Leigh underneath her favourite tree. Tonight, however, it wasn't Kyle that was there with her. She was here meeting with Roger Hamilton, her best friend and confidant. She knew Kyle didn't exactly like Roger…there was something about him that Kyle just found it difficult to trust. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Roger was a very respected young member of the community. He followed all the rules and had excellent standing with the older community members. He was a shining example of what all of the young community members were expected to be.

Roger Hamilton was a handsome, muscular boy of seventeen. He had short light brown hair and stunning hazel eyes. He was the most desired boy in the community…all of the girls wanted to date him. Yet he had eyes for the only girl in the community who didn't want to date him…Leigh.

The two had been best friends since the age of five. They had met on the first day of their classes, had hit it off immediately, and had been bet friends ever since. Roger had always had issues with Leigh's decision to date Kyle…and Kyle had always had issues with Leigh's friendship with Roger.

Leigh told Roger everything…including all of her suspicions about the community. Roger had always told her that her suspicions were unfounded…that they were stupid and that she should just forget them. He had always been convinced that her dangerous conspiracy theories about the Community had been the work of Kyle. It was no secret that Kyle was not fond of the Community…he never had been. He'd always had stupid ideas about the community…and now he was filling Leigh's head with his nonsense. Roger did his best to reverse the damage he was sure Kyle was doing to Leigh, but she just refuse to listen.

"…I've told you once and I'll tell you a hundred times, Leigh. You need to stop with the conspiracy theories. The Community is _not_ out to get you; you need to just let it go." Roger said, looking at Leigh with a very serious expression on his face.

"Look, Roger…I know what I saw. That girl in that picture was _me_." Leigh told him for the fourth time. She had told him everything that had happened in the last few days. He was appalled at the fact that she had broken so many rules, especially the rule about leaving the community, but he was thankful that she hadn't been stopped. Though now he was determined to put a stop to this. It had to end before she got caught and had to suffer extreme consequences.

"Leigh…I think you've been listening to one too many of Kyle's stories again."

"Damnit, Roger! Why won't you ever listen to me? This isn't about Kyle! This has nothing to do with Kyle! I'm entitled to my own thoughts and my own suspicions! These are _my _thoughts! Mine and nobody else's!"

"Fine, I'm sorry…" Roger said, "It's just…you're overreacting. The girl in the photograph _resembled_ you. Closely, perhaps, but _resembled_ you nonetheless. It wasn't _you_, Leigh. Now you have to stop this before it goes too far!"

"I can't BELIEVE YOU!" Leigh shouted, getting up off the ground and grabbing her purse. "You're not even _listening_ to me. You don't even care about what I have to say. You're just s_o fixated_ on the idea that Kyle is corrupting me. Well guess what? I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM KYLE! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I'M ALLOWED TO HAVE AN ORIGINAL THOUGHT! AND I DO! YOU JUST DON'T LIKE KYLE! YOU NEVER HAVE! WELL YOU KNOW WHAT? HE'S MY _BOYFRIEND_! YOU'RE NOT! JUST GET OVER YOURSELF AND MOVE ON!"

Leigh stormed off away from the river and toward her house, leaving a bewildered looking Roger staring darkly after her. He needed to stop her, one way or the other…he just prayed to god that it didn't have to come to him informing the Community Leader of her sudden erratic behaviour.

TBC…

AN: Yay! I'm so COOL! I'm on a roll. I managed to get chapters for not only one, but _two _of my stories posted tonight! Woot Woot! GO ME! (Does happy dance) Yeah…anyway…forgive me. I'm extremely pleased with myself. I got a chapter up for Epidemic, my Firefly fic (although I'm not sure I'm quite happy with that chapter…I might go back and rewrite it later) and this one (which I happen to be extremely happy with…it turned out better than I originally planned). So yeah…and thank you all for reading and such. I hope the plot is getting thick enough for you…despite the fact that it's about to get a whole lot thicker. (OMINOUS FORESHADOWING!! TEEHEE!!) Anyway, so yeah…I'm extremely tired now and ready for bed…so 'night all. Thanks again for reading and reviews!

Love always, Cat.


	6. In Search Of Answers

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Moonlight, no, there's no monetary gain, and yes, I would like to be a Jason Alexandwich

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Moonlight, no, there's no monetary gain, and yes, I _would_ like to be a Jason Alexandwich. Wait…can anyone sell me the rights to _them_? (Evil Grin)

AN: Thank you to all of you wonderful reviewers for your support throughout the writing process. I have received many wonderful and inspirational reviews from all of you amazing readers, and I hope that as I continue this story I continue to live up to your expectations. Thank you all again for your amazing support, and I dedicate this chapter to the readers, and in particular to moonjat54, who has been amazingly supportive of the story, and has inspired me to keep writing even through my worst bouts of writer's block. So, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and yet again I extend many warm and heartfelt thanks to you, my amazingly awesome readers!

"Leigh, sweetheart, are you okay? You don't look very good." Leigh's mother asked from across the breakfast table. Leigh looked up at her mother from her uneaten bowl of cereal and forced a smile.

"Of course mother, why wouldn't I be?"

"You just look…tired." Her mother replied.

Leigh couldn't stand to look at her mother anymore and looked back down at her cereal. It had been two weeks since she'd left the Community and contacted Mick St. John. The three weeks since she'd discovered Elizabeth McKnight's disappearance had been playing mind games with her, and she found that she could no longer look he parents in the eyes. She wasn't sure what to believe anymore. Just the thought that her parents could have done something like that…it turned her stomach. And between her own uncertain thoughts and the vivid dreams she kept having, Leigh found that she'd gotten very little sleep lately. And it was, apparently, beginning to show.

"I haven't been sleeping right lately." Leigh muttered into her bowl of Corn Flakes. "Since graduation I haven't had classes to tire me out. I'm not used to just sitting around all the time."

"Well, Leigh, don't get used to it. It's really only a temporary arrangement until your Ceremony. After that, you'll be plenty busy." Leigh's father pointed out as he took a sip from his travel mug.

Her parents always seemed to have a cup of coffee for breakfast. Nothing else. Leigh remembered asking once why her parents didn't eat breakfast with her. They'd told her that they simply weren't breakfast people. Leigh had let it go at that, figuring that it was probably best not to ask too many questions. But secretly, it had always bothered her. If she thought about it, she couldn't really remember ever seeing them eat anything. All they ever seemed to ingest was endless amounts of coffee from their special travel mugs.

"Why don't you approach one of the teachers in the Junior classes?" Her mother suggested. "You know there's always room in the classrooms for you to give demonstrations. And the children positively adore you."

"Maybe…" Leigh conceded. She stared at her bowl of Corn Flakes ruefully and poked at the now soggy cereal with her spoon. She had a lot on her mind lately, and truth be told she wasn't in much of an eating mood this morning anyway.

For nearly the rest of breakfast, the table remained silent. Leigh's father was reading his morning newspaper, her mother was making various lists and reminders, and Leigh was lost in her own thoughts. It wasn't until the very end of breakfast that Leigh's mother broke the tense silence.

"Oh, Leigh honey…your father and I won't be home tonight." She said, "So you'll have the house to yourself."

Leigh looked up from her cereal, surprised, and shot her mother a very questioning look.

"Why? What's so important about tonight?"

"Oh, sweetie, it's Rick Mathers' eighteenth birthday." She replied airily. "We're attending his Ceremony tonight."

"Oh…right…I completely forgot." Leigh said. Suddenly, an idea struck her. Her whole demeanour changed instantly. "Mother, since you aren't going to be here tonight, is it alright if I have Kyle over for a movie night?"

Her mother gave her a long look, pursing her lips. Finally, she replied.

"Leigh, honey…wouldn't you much rather have Roger over instead?"

Leigh rolled her eyes. It was no secret that Leigh's parents didn't much like Kyle. Ever since she'd begun dating Kyle, her parents had been pressuring her to reconsider her decision. They adored Roger, however, and encouraged Leigh to spend as much time as possible with him…and away from Kyle. Apparently, they thought Roger was a good match for her…perhaps that he could curb her anarchist attitude. The fact that he was also a respected, model citizen within the Community didn't hurt either. Leigh had a sneaking suspicion that her parents were rather hoping she'd see reason and break up with Kyle in favour of Roger. Leigh scoffed at that thought.

"No, I'd rather have Kyle over. It's been forever since we've had an evening alone together to snuggle up on the couch and watch movies."

"I don't know…" Leigh's father said, "I'd be more comfortable if it was Roger."

Leigh scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, father. We're not going to do anything, if that's what you're worried about. It's not like as soon as you walk out the door he's going to tear off all my clothes and ravish me on the living room sof-"

"Leigh!" Her father interrupted, a warning edge in his voice.

"What?"

"That's hardly appropriate breakfast conversation. In fact, it's hardly appropriate conversation at all!"

"I'm sorry, _father_." Leigh said, putting particular emphasis on the word 'father' and injecting as much venom as possible into it. "I was merely trying to prove a point. I'm no less safe here with Kyle than I am with Roger. Yet you and mother seem to think so. Do you have an _issue_ with Kyle that perhaps you would like to inform me of?"

Her father was silent; though she knew her parents disapproved of Kyle, they'd never said so out loud, for whatever reason. And they weren't about to now.

"Very well." Her father conceded, "You may have Kyle over tonight. He's not to stay past midnight."

Her mother shot her father a look, which he returned. Leigh recognized the look as a 'we'll talk about this later' exchange between her parents. Truth be told, however, she didn't particularly care. She'd gotten what she wanted. She could now put her plan into action.

"Thank you father." Leigh said with a grin, jumping up from her seat at the table and abandoning her untouched bowl of Corn Flakes. She ran directly to her room and dressed in her usual Combat Boots and long black skirt with fishnet stockings. Today she opted for a grey striped Ruby Gloom t-shirt. After applying her usual thick, dark eye makeup, she pulled her cell phone out of her bedside table drawer and hit the speed dial button with Kyle's number.

"Hey, Kyle? Listen, I need you to meet me at the usual place. I have something very important to discuss with you…"

MLMLMLML

"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this." Kyle muttered to Leigh as they stooped close to the ground in the shadows cast by the Community wall. The sun had all but set, and, shrouded in almost complete darkness, Leigh and Kyle were waiting anxiously for when the guards would change shift. Which, according to her calculations, would be in about the next two minutes. And her calculations were definitely accurate. She'd been planning this for a while…all she'd needed was an opportunity. An opportunity her parents had provided for her tonight.

"Look, I told you that you didn't _have_ to come." Leigh hissed in Kyle's direction.

"Well what was I supposed to do? Let you go alone?" He whispered. "Last time was enough of a risk. This time I want to be there with you to make sure nothing happens."

"Then quit your incessant bitching and moaning and run. Now!" She whispered back. The guard station was empty, and now was their best chance of getting through unnoticed.

Half stooped-over, Leigh and Kyle made a break for the gate. With less than a minute before the guards from the next shift would take their positions, they needed to hurry if they were to avoid getting caught.

Just as they made it to the gate, the guards came to assume their post. As Leigh and Kyle crossed the bridge and ducked around the side of the wall and into the shadows, one of the guards appeared to have noticed the movement and seemed to look directly at them. Hidden in the shadows, Kyle and Leigh waited with bated breath, not daring to move for fear the guard might notice and come to investigate. After a tense, heart-pounding instant, the guard seemed to dismiss the whole thing and turned to speak to one of the other guards.

The fear subsiding, and cool relief taking its place, Leigh and Kyle both let out breaths they hadn't even realized they'd been holding. They crouched down low, moving under cover of the shadows, until they decided that they were far enough away from the Community gate that there was no risk of being seen.

Finally straightening up, both stretched out the uncomfortable kinks that had formed in their backs and began to navigate their way through the dark wooded area surrounding the Community, hand in hand, their only sources of light being that of their flashlights.

"You sure your parents won't get back before we do?" Kyle asked Leigh, a nervous edge to his voice.

"Look, if we stick to the schedule, we'll be back by midnight at the latest. Mom and dad won't be back until well after three a.m. Same with your parents, I'm assuming. So we'll be back in time that they'll never even notice we're gone. Don't worry, we'll be fine."

"I know, I just…you _do_ realize the consequences of being caught, don't you?" Kyle asked her.

"We aren't going to _be_ caught, Kyle. And yes, I do know the consequences. Very well, as a matter of fact, it's just…" She paused, groping for the right words to make him understand, "my need for answers outweighs my fear of those consequences."

"If you're sure." Kyle replied, giving her and a tight squeeze. "And no matter what happens…we're in this together now."

"I know." She replied, squeezing his hand just as tightly. "Thank you. I love you."

"I love you too, Leigh. More than you'll ever know."

The rest of the walk through the woods toward the main road was spent in silence.

MLMLMLML

Mick and Beth sat in Mick's apartment, each with their own laptop, doing work on Leigh's case. They had done research into various communities in the L.A. area, examined maps and satellite photographs, and none seemed to match the Community Leigh had described to Mick. According to Leigh, where the Community should have been located on the map was covered instead with a large wooded area. There was no indication that anything else could possibly have even been there at any point in time.

"I just don't understand this…" Beth said, giving Mick a meaningful look from her seat on the couch across from him. "It's not on any of the maps, or in any of these pictures…are you sure Leigh gave you the right location? It's like it doesn't even exist."

"I think that's the idea." Mick replied, a serious tone to his voice. Beth thought she also detected a hint of…worry, perhaps? "If nobody knows it's there, then it's less likely that someone's going to bother them. And if you've got something to hide, it's not exactly like you're going to want to advertise your whereabouts to the world."

Beth couldn't miss the grave expression on his face. And it began to scare her.

"Mick…is something wrong?"

"It just bothers me." He replied, "Somewhere out there there's a congregation of vampires…a whole community of them from the sound of it, and they're nowhere to be found. Even Josef had no idea this 'Community' existed until now…and he's the oldest vamp in the city. He assumes control over all the vamps in L.A. He knows the identity and location of every single vampire in the area…and he'd never even heard of it. It's just…unsettling."

Beth nodded silently. The implications of what Mick was saying terrified her beyond measure. The very idea that, somewhere out there, there was a group of vampires that had managed to stay under the radar and were now doing unspeakable and dangerous things was…well, very uncomfortable to think about.

"I've just got one question…if she lives in a community of vampires, what on earth would they have kidnapped Leigh for? I mean, it's not like they needed to appear 'normal' if they were living grouped together like that."

"I honestly have no idea…" Mick replied, "A vampire might want to kidnap a child for any number of reasons. For example, they might just have wanted a child and, being unable to procreate themselves, resorted to kidnapping one. How many adoption agencies do you know of that would be willing to hand over a child to a couple of vampires?"

Beth nodded. Despite Mick's attempt at lightening the mood, she just couldn't bring herself to smile.

"Or because they got it into their sick twisted minds that a child would save their failed relationship."

Mick was silent. He hadn't wanted to bring up Coraline, knowing that it would upset Beth. But clearly, she had been thinking about her own kidnapping lately, whether or not he had avoided it altogether…thanks to this case. Mick was beginning to wonder if it was healthy for Beth to be pursuing this case with him, given the delicate subject matter involved. She was becoming really engrossed in it, to the point of near-obsession, and he was beginning to worry more than a little bit for her mental state.

An awkward silence stretched for a few long moments before Mick decided to break it.

"What I don't understand is why they didn't turn her immediately after kidnapping her. If they wanted a child so badly, they would have wanted her to remain that way. So why didn't they?"

"Maybe they just wanted the experience of raising a child. Maybe they plan on turning her as an adult. Or allowing her to remain a human." Beth replied.

Mick shook his head. "I don't think that's it…"

They sat in silence for another long while, although this silence was a pensive one rather than an awkward one.

"Leigh was saying that there are tons more children in her community. If everyone in the community is a vampire, then…" Mick began.

"…Then that could mean a lot more kidnapped children." Beth finished for him. Mick nodded.

"She also told me that they go through an intensive training process from the age of five. Now, why would they want so many expertly trained kids? Unless…"

A terrifying thought struck Beth, causing her blood to run cold. An involuntary shudder ran down her spine as she looked at Mick with a half-shocked, half-terrified expression.

"Unless they're building some sort of army." She whispered. Mick nodded gravely at her. "But…what would a group of vampires want with an army?"

Mick looked at her seriously.

"What would anyone want with an army?" He asked, "The question isn't why they're building one…it's who they plan on fighting with it."

Another tense silence filled the air. A silence that was disrupted by a very loud knock on the door.

The sudden noise of the knocking made Beth jump, and made Mick cock his head over in the direction of the door. He rose swiftly from his seat, setting his laptop on the table in front of him, and crossed over to the door. Looking into the screen, Mick recognized one of the figures behind it instantly.

"It's Leigh." He said, turning toward Beth. Beth's demeanour changed immediately. She went from looking startled and brooding to fascinated and attentive.

"Leigh? As in, Leigh…the case we're currently working?"

"Only one I know of." Mick replied with a half-smile. There was another knock. "Listen, Beth. Before I open the door I need to make one thing very clear to you. I have a funny feeling that Leigh doesn't know about vampires. Mentioning anything at all could jeopardize the entire vampire community. Understand?"

Beth nodded. Mick gave her a nod back and opened the door just as Leigh was about to knock for a third time.

"Leigh…this is a surprise." Mick greeted with a smile, stepping aside to let Leigh enter the apartment. A tall young man with dark hair and blue-grey eyes followed her immediately. "And your friend is…?"

"Boyfriend, actually." The young man said, draping an arm around Leigh's shoulders in a half-protective, half-possessive gesture. "And I'm Kyle."

"Nice to meet you Kyle." Mick said, extending his hand. Kyle looked at it warily for a moment, as though he thought that perhaps it might bite him, before taking it gingerly.

"Please, have a seat." Mick said, gesturing to a few chairs across from the sofa. Kyle still looked as though he wasn't at all sure of the situation, but he followed Leigh's lead and sat down in a chair beside her.

It wasn't until she was sitting down in her chair that Leigh finally noticed Beth's presence in the room. She was rather startled by the searching look Beth was giving her.

"Oh…I'm really sorry…I…uh…I didn't mean to interrupt anything…" She said, immediately standing. Mick gestured for her to sit back down as he made his way to the couch.

"No, it's fine…you weren't interrupting anything. We were actually just discussing your case." Mick replied, taking a seat beside Beth, although he was sitting rather far away from her.

"I'm Beth Turner…reporter for BuzzWire." Beth said, extending her hand. Leigh looked horrified for a moment and looked at Mick.

"Reporter? As in, news reporter?!" She asked, becoming hysterical. An icy hand wrapped itself firmly around her heart and squeezed until she felt she could no longer breathe. She knew that if this made the news, the Community Leaders would find out about her trips out of the Community…and the consequences would be dire.

Beside Leigh, Kyle was silent, although a frightened look graced his features and he, too, looked as though he might start panicking at any moment. His wide eyes bore a mixture of fear and anger.

"No, no…it's not like that." Mick said quickly, trying to calm the hysterical girl in front of him. "Beth isn't doing a story on this, I promise you…she's a very trustworthy person, and she can keep a secret. It's just…she has contacts that can help us with the investigation, and I needed her investigative skill. Which is why I asked for her help. And just like me, whatever she hears or sees while investigating this case is in the strictest confidence."

Kyle seemed to look slightly relieved and Leigh calmed down a little, but the two teenagers still looked wary and uneasy. Their bodies seemed to tense up to the point where they looked like they might snap in half at any moment.

Kyle noted that Leigh seemed to trust Mick, but he was still unsure of everything about their current situation. He had a very had time trusting people, and damned if he was going to trust these two people he barely knew.

Leigh looked at Beth, who looked a little startled herself. This was not exactly how Beth had pictured that their first meeting would go.

"So…this isn't going to end up on the six o'clock news?" Leigh asked, feeling more than a little sceptical. It was made very clear in the tone of her voice that she wasn't sure she liked this sudden new arrangement.

"No, of course not." Beth replied, hoping to make it clear to the girl that she was on her side.

"So…what? Are you…are you going to be looking for any payment for all of this?" Leigh asked uncertainly, looking from Beth to Mick and back to Beth.

"No." Beth replied quickly, resolutely, "This is strictly a personal interest case. I'm not looking or any form of payment."

Beth fixed Leigh with another penetrating look, and Leigh wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. It was definitely creepy, coming from a total stranger, but at the same time, there was something…reassuring, about it. An understanding that Leigh found, if only slightly, comforting.

"Might I ask what your 'personal interest' is in my case?" Leigh asked warily, still unsure of what to make of all this.

A dark look crossed Beth's face for a moment, and she was completely silent. Mick saw this and was about to answer for her when Beth raised a hand to stop him. He looked at her with a half-concerned, half-surprised expression.

"No, Mick, it's okay." She said quietly, laying a hand on his arm. "She has a right to an answer. And I have to be the one to answer this."

Mick gave her a last concerned look, but nodded in understanding. Beth looked once more at Leigh, a slightly uncomfortable look on her face, before taking a deep breath and finally speaking.

"Let's just say I'm no stranger to the implications of a kidnapping." She began, "In fact…I was a victim of it myself, once upon a time. I was kidnapped when I was about four years old…literally taken right from my bed. I was one of the lucky ones, though…I was found right away and brought home to my family. Saved by my Guardian Angel." A fond smile crossed her lips as she said this. "Still…I know that my own kidnapping affected me much more than I ever would have thought. So I can only imagine how this situation must be affecting you, not knowing what to think or what to believe." She paused for a moment, allowing a silence to fill the room as she contemplated her next words. "I just…I want to be able to help, if I can. I realize every day how close I came to being just another lost little girl…and if you are, in fact, the victim of such horrible circumstances, I want to know that I made a difference. That I helped to bring home a lost little girl. If I do that then maybe…"

Beth trailed off, not exactly sure how to finish her speech. She wasn't sure exactly how bringing Elizabeth home would help her, but she knew deep down that by doing so, it would make her own childhood experience less traumatic. She couldn't explain her need to help the little girl, or why she felt so connected, but she knew that she would never stop feeling somehow responsible for her until the girl was back safe in the arms of her biological parents.

"…Oh." Was all Leigh managed to get out. A very extended period of awkward silence followed this conversation. During this time, none of them seemed to be able to look at each other. Instead, they all gazed around the room aimlessly. Finally, Leigh cleared her throat and spoke up, suddenly remembering why she was here.

"Look, I…I've been doing some thinking about all of this lately. And it's really been messing with my head, the uncertainty of not knowing. For all I know, it could be that I'm just being paranoid. Or…it could be that my entire life as I know it has been a complete lie. Either way, I…I have to know for sure. I need some answers or I'm going to go insane. And I realized that there's probably some DNA profile on Elizabeth McKnight in the system. So I was thinking…maybe if you had something with my DNA, you could have someone run them against each other and find out once and for all who I really am."

With that, Leigh reached into her bag and pulled out a toothbrush wrapped in a plastic Ziploc sandwich bag. She looked at it for a moment, turning it over in her hands. She knew that this was it. She had just arrived at the moment that could completely and irrevocably change her life forever. She considered not handing it over as she felt the small part of her that didn't really want to know the truth made itself heard. Soon, however, it was drowned out by the much larger part of her that needed to know, no matter how bad or how unpleasant the truth happened to be. Taking a deep breath, she finally leaned forward and handed it to Mick, who took it and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'll have it analyzed and get you the results as soon as possible." He assured her. She nodded, and then froze, a realization hitting her.

"Mr. St. John…how exactly are you planning on getting me those results? As you're fully aware of the circumstances, you must realize that communication would be nearly impossible unless I was to leave the Community again…and it would be much too much of a risk. I've already left twice in the span of a week…and it's been very difficult and very dangerous. If I were to try to leave again…no doubt there's a good possibility that someone might notice that I keep disappearing."

Mick thought about this for a second. No doubt Leigh was right…the risk of her being discovered if he tried to call her, or if she tried to leave to meet with him was extremely high. Still…he needed to find a way to get the results to her.

Beth suddenly got an idea. "I'll be right back!" She exclaimed, grabbing her jacket and rushing out of the apartment, leaving Mick, Leigh, and Kyle all staring after her, bewildered expressions on their faces.

MLMLMLML

Beth returned ten minutes later with her solution. Taking off her coat, she quickly rushed over to where Leigh was sitting.

"Here." She said, handing Leigh a small bag. Leigh took the bag uncertainly, and as Beth went back over to sit on the opposite end of the sofa from Mick, she opened it, peering inside for a moment before reaching in and pulling out its contents. Leigh shot Beth a questioning look. "It's a disposable cell phone." Beth explained. "Only Mick and I will know the number. That way you won't have to leave the Community, and Mick's phone number can't be traced back to your phone."

Leigh looked at Beth, impressed despite herself. There was more silence. Kyle still looked wary of the situation, as though he were still trying to decide whether or not to trust these people.

Looking at her watch, Leigh realized that it was past her and Kyle's agreed departure time. She stood up quickly, grabbing her purse, and Kyle rose with her, looking only too happy to follow her lead.

"Well, Mr. St. John," Leigh said, extending her hand. "Thank you for all of your help, but we really need to be going now."

Mick stood and nodded, taking her offered hand. "Call me Mick." He said. "Listen…it'll probably take a few days for the DNA results to come back. But I'll contact you with the results as soon as possible."

"Thank you." Leigh said, nodding. There was an exchange of phone numbers, and Leigh turned to Beth. "I appreciate your help in all this, Miss Turner."

"Please, it's Beth." Beth said, rising to her feet. They just looked at each other for a moment before Leigh extended her hand. Beth took it with a smile. Then Leigh turned and left. Kyle gave Mick and Beth a curt nod before following, happy to finally be leaving. He'd made it a point not to speak much during the proceedings, simply because he had been nervous in the presence of strangers, strangers that could at any moment report them to Community authorities.

MLMLMLML

Leigh and Kyle arrived back at the Community wall a little past 1 a.m. Luckily, they managed to slip over the bridge and through the gate without much difficulty, as the guards were changing shift, and quickly made their way back to Leigh's house.

"You said we'd be back earlier than this." Kyle muttered as Leigh opened the front door and led him inside.

"We would have been!" Leigh replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice, "If you hadn't been so damn picky about who we hitched a ride back with."

"Look, I'm sorry if I was watching out for your best interests." Kyle replied, "Those guys were really creepy-looking. I can't believe you'd put yourself in danger like that!"

"Oh, come on, Kyle…I could easily have taken any one of those guys." Leigh responded. "And besides…I wasn't in any danger. You were with me."

"Only because I insisted on going! They were easily twice your size!" Kyle retorted, looking angry. "If you'd been alone…I can't stand to think what might have happened to you." Then his expression softened a little. "Leigh…you're becoming really reckless lately. Repeatedly and knowingly putting yourself in danger. I just…" He paused, looking for the right words. "I worry. A lot. I love you too much to see something bad happen to you." More silence. "I hate the fact that you have to go through this at all. I see how badly all of this is affecting you, even though you think I can't. I want…I want to take away all of your doubts and your pain. I'd give anything to make it all better, to make it all disappear. But I can't…and it kills me that I can't."

Leigh just looked at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Kyle stared back at her, finding himself suddenly unable to breathe. While they had been talking, they had made their way into the living room. Leigh was standing in front of the huge curtained front window, half of her face illuminated by the sliver of moonlight shining in through a gap in the curtains. Illuminated by the moonlight, she looked absolutely stunning, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life.

After a long moment of staring at Kyle, a single tear began to make its way down her face. His words, the most amazing, wonderful, loving words she had ever heard, echoed through her head.

Before either of them knew what they were doing, they had catapulted themselves into each other's arms. They kissed passionately, hungrily, wanting to revel in each other's glory, needing to absorb as much of the other as they possibly could. Leigh pushed Kyle toward the stairs, and he walked up backward, all the while maintaining their kiss. They reached the hall, and Kyle obediently allowed Leigh to back him through her bedroom doorway. Kyle turned the tables, pushing Leigh toward the bed and gently lowering her onto it. He followed on top of her, finally breaking the kiss and gently nipping at her bottom lip.

Before either of them knew what was happening, clothes began to fall to the floor. Shirts, pants, shoes, socks…finally, they were almost completely naked. Kyle still wore his boxer shorts, and Leigh was still wearing her underwear and bra.

Leigh began reaching down toward the waistband of Kyle's boxers, kissing him deeply, when Kyle suddenly stopped. He grabbed her wrist and pulled back quickly, his eyes searching hers.

"Leigh…" He breathed. His breath was ragged and uneven. He took a deep breath, still staring into her emerald eyes, before he found himself able to finish forming his coherent thought. "Leigh…are you sure about this?"

Leigh stared back into his eyes. She was trying to fight off the cloud of fog in her head that was stopping her from understanding what it was he was asking. Then, like a bolt of lightning, the full meaning of his question finally hit her.

"Yeah." She breathed, a smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. There was a yearning in her eyes that made Kyle's heart skip a beat. A yearning that, unbeknownst to him, was reflected in his own eyes. "Yeah…I want this. I want _you_, Kyle."

Kyle saw the sincerity in her gaze and knew that that was enough for him. He hungrily captured her mouth, reaching around to undo the clasp of her bra. In all of his life, Kyle couldn't remember ever being so sure of anything. This felt so…right.

That was his last coherent thought before he was swept away by the passion of the moment.

MLMLMLML

Kyle and Leigh jolted awake to the sound of a car door slamming. Leigh looked up from where she lay encircled in her boyfriend's arms, and realized that her parents had just arrived home.

"Kyle, get up! Get dressed! You've got to go! Now!" She whispered, sitting bolt upright. Kyle nodded to her before leaping out of Leigh's bed and quickly dressing.

In less than a minute, Kyle was dressed (although his shirt was inside out). He quickly grabbed his sneakers, silently thanking God that he hadn't taken them off at the front door, and gave Leigh a chaste kiss on the lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He whispered, giving her a dazzling smile before stepping out her bedroom window.

With a sigh, Leigh fell back on her bed, replaying the night's events in her mind. No doubt it had been an unforgettable night.

Leigh opened the drawer of her side table, placing a hand on the false bottom of the drawer, under which the disposable cell phone she'd received was safely hidden. Then, closing the drawer, she turned over on her side and allowed herself to once again drift off to sleep.

AN: Sorry this took so long, people. It's been pretty hectic lately, what with schoolwork and such on the go. I'd just like to say that I, for one, am eagerly anticipating the return of Moonlight this Friday. Woot woot! Anyway, thanks for reading and for all the wonderful reviews.

Love always, Cat.


	7. Uncovering the Truth

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen. Although I still hold out hope that another network will pick up the pieces and Moonlight will live on. (Crosses Fingers) But hey…at least there's always fanfiction.

AN: Thank you all once again for your amazing support and your heart-warming reviews. Let me just say that, despite everything that's happened lately, I still haven't given up hope for Moonlight. Remember…it's always important to believe in what you're fighting for, but it's even _more_ important to always fight for what you believe in. So let's keep fighting and show the TV execs that we're ready to fight for what we believe in. Thanks again all.

Mick and Beth sat in silence. Leigh and her boyfriend Kyle had just left, leaving them alone once again, and with a lot more to think about. Mick picked up the Ziploc bag containing the toothbrush from where he'd laid it on the table, and turned it over in his hands, regarding it thoughtfully.

"I wonder if she knows just how much is riding on the results of this DNA test. I wonder if she knows exactly how much this could potentially impact her life." He said. Beth looked at him.

"She knows." She replied simply. Mick just stared back at Beth, a silent question etched in his features. "I could see it in her eyes." she answered.

Beth had indeed seen the look in Leigh's eyes. The look of dread and comprehension as she realized just what the outcome could mean. Beth had seen that look in her own eyes when she'd stared at her reflection after finding out that Mick was a vampire, when she'd realized that the entire dynamic of her and Mick's relationship was about to change. She'd seen it again the day she realized that she _loved him_. And she'd seen it once more after Josh's death, when she realized the full impact of what had happened, when she realized that Josh was gone, never coming back, and she had to figure out exactly what she was going to do. Needless to say, she was well acquainted with that look. She'd recognize it anywhere.

Silence fell over the room once more, the tension in the air so thick it was almost tangible. Mick and Beth avoided looking at each other, although neither of them were exactly sure why. The atmosphere remained that way for a long time, and as Mick chanced a look at Beth, apparently lost in a sea of her own jumbled thoughts, he silently wondered what exactly it was that she was thinking about. After a few more minutes of the strained silence, he decided that he should break it.

"So, uh…it's…getting pretty late." He said lamely, unable to come up with anything better than that.

Beth looked up, jolted from her reverie at the sound of his voice cutting through the silence. She glanced quickly at the clock and realized he was right. It was going on 11 p.m.

"Wow, I didn't realize how late it was…" Beth said, more to herself than to Mick, seeming to look straight through him. Then she looked up, finally meeting his eyes. "I guess that means I should get going then."

Mick wanted to kick himself. Here he was, yet again stuffing his foot in his mouth, which, by the way, he seemed to have _such_ a talent for. He hadn't meant for it to sound like he wanted her to leave, but thinking back on the way he'd said it…it had seemed like a subtle push toward the door.

"Well, it is pretty late, after all…" Mick began, trying to rectify his mistake. "Maybe you should stay here…I'm…I'm not sure if I feel all that comfortable with you driving home by yourself at this time of night."

Beth looked at him silently, seriously considering his offer. Her apartment was just so…empty these days, and she hated waking up from her nightmares completely alone. And she felt comfortable at Mick's…_safe_…comfortable in his arms as he tried to calm her after her nightmares. She'd stayed at his apartment for a few nights after that first night she'd come by after Josh's death, but she'd insisted on going back to her apartment after that. He'd insisted that she stay longer, but she'd politely refused. She didn't want to be a burden on him; he already had so much to deal with. And also…she'd felt guilty about it. Felt that it was an insult to Josh's memory to be staying at Mick's, seeking comfort and solace in his arms, especially so soon after Josh's death. And so, she'd vowed to herself that she would brave the silent nights in her empty apartment in an attempt to soothe her guilty conscience. Unfortunately, this still didn't seem to satisfy Nightmare Josh, who night after night continued to accuse her of infidelity and responsibility for his death, and night after night made her awaken, tears pouring down her face, crying out for Mick.

"I appreciate the offer, Mick, really I do, but…" Beth began, pausing to search for the right words to express herself, while at the same time trying to spare Mick's feelings. "…But I need to learn to be on my own again. Since Josh…well, I've been relying too much on other people to get me through it. It's time I learned to stand on my own two feet again. I appreciate all you've done for me, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for it, but I can't keep relying on you forever."

Mick gave a half-hearted smile. "It's not like I won't be around forever."

Beth gave a humourless laugh, but said nothing. Mick continued.

"Beth…I'll always be there for you. No matter what. I've stuck around for twenty-two years, haven't I? I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. You can count on me to pick you up and carry you when you hit rock bottom."

Beth gave him a half-hearted smile. She was truly touched by his words, and she knew that he meant each and every one of them…but what she needed right now was to distance herself from him. She was getting in too deep, falling hard for him…and it made her feel guiltier than ever.

"I know, Mick, and I appreciate it. It's just right now, after everything that's happened…I'm just so confused right now. Everything's changed and-"

"I know you feel like the ground is crumbling beneath you, Beth. Like nothing's stable anymore. And I understand that you're feeling insecure about the future. What happened is enough to make anyone realize that everything can change in the blink of an eye. But believe me when I say, Beth, that I'll always be there for you. I'm probably the one constant in your life. I'm indestructible. I'm like Superman…only I've got fangs and drink people's blood. And I can't fly."

Beth let out a chuckle at his words. For a brooding, self-loathing vampire, he really did know how to lighten the mood when the occasion called for it.

"I really have to go now, Mick." Beth said, grabbing her stuff and heading for the door. She was about to open it when Mick's voice stopped her.

"This isn't about Josh, is it?"

Beth froze in place for a second, before finally turning around to face him.

"What?" She knew full well what he'd said.

"You trying to pull away from me. It seems like just when things seem like they're finally starting to get back to the way they were between us, you pull away from me. It's because of Josh, isn't it?"

Beth was silent. She wasn't sure what to say. Mick had caught her completely off guard.

"Mick…it's complicated…" Beth began. She really didn't want to have to explain to him about her dreams.

Mick closed the distance between them, coming to stand in front of her. He gently took both of her hands in his and looked her in the eye.

"I understand, Beth. I know you're still grieving for him, and there's nothing wrong with that. But just remember…the Josh that truly loved you wouldn't want you to be alone for the rest of your life out of respect for him. Do you think he really loved you?"

Beth silently nodded, almost hypnotized by Mick's closeness.

"If he really loved you, Beth, then he'd want you to be happy. It's not him that's keeping you from moving on…it's you. Just remember that it's okay to grieve…it's okay to remember…but don't make yourself miserable because you think it's what he'd want."

With that, Mick carefully let go of her hands, which dropped limply back to Beth's sides.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Beth."

Beth nodded one last time before she turned and left Mick's apartment, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. Part of her knew that he was right…that it was her own guilt that was holding her back, keeping her from moving on. But there was still Nightmare Josh, who was the source of her guilt. She shook her head, trying to clear it as she fought back a fresh wave of tears as she walked into the elevator and headed down to her car.

MLMLMLML

Beth jolted awake, Nightmare Josh's words still echoing in her ears as she gasped for breath in between terrified sobs. Her first instinct was to each for the phone and call Mick, just to hear his voice, knowing that it would bring her comfort; but she fought down the urge. She needed to get through this herself. By running to Mick, she was only proving Nightmare Josh's words to be true. Deep down, she wanted with all her heart to believe that they weren't true, but the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she knew they were. The fact that she felt so guilty told her that she believed him.

Trying desperately to calm herself, to forget the image burned into her memory of Josh lying on the ground, bleeding to death, Beth curled up on her bed into the fetal position. She lay like that for a long time, sobbing uncontrollably; unable to close her eyes again for fear that Nightmare Josh would once again haunt her troubled dreams.

MLMLMLML

"Mommy!"

Leigh jolted awake once again, cold sweat plastering her boxer shorts and T–shirt to her clammy skin. She'd lost count of how many times she'd done that in the past weeks since first discovering Elizabeth McKnight. She wiped at her eyes, where tears had apparently formed while she slept, and, still shaking, she glanced over at her alarm clock. It was a little past 4:00 a.m.

Bringing herself to a sitting position in her bed, leaning back against the headboard, Leigh silently sat and waited for her racing heart to return to normal, and for her shallow, erratic breathing to establish a constant rhythm. Heaving a sigh, she reached over to where her TV's remote control sat on her bedside table and turned it on. Flicking it to one of the few channels not blocked out by her parents, she was thrilled to discover that one of her favourite movies, _Time After Time_, was on. She loved the lead character, played by a man called Malcolm McDowell, and she absolutely adored the plot. She giggled to herself as she spotted Doom lying at the foot of the bed, his eyes eagerly fixed on the screen. Ever since he was a kitten, he'd always seemed to enjoy watching television. The movement mesmerized him, she guessed.

Smiling fondly to herself, Leigh thought back to when she'd first brought Doom home some 5 years ago. She'd been twelve, almost thirteen at the time, and walking home from school one day she'd noticed him, injured and close to death, in the bushes just inside of the Community wall. Taking pity on the poor, pathetic little creature, which at that point was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, she'd carefully scooped him up and brought him home. At first, her parents were completely opposed to the idea, citing the fact that they weren't 'cat people' as the reason why. Leigh had eventually worn them down enough to permit it, as long as the cat stayed in her bedroom at all times. It had taken quite a while, but she'd finally managed to nurse him back to health. She'd discovered soon after he'd regained his strength, when he'd managed to escape her bedroom and make his way downstairs, that her parents' dislike for the cat was a mutual sentiment.

She'd walked in the door from her lessons to find the cat backed into a corner, hissing and growling in an apparently hysterical rage at her parents across the room. Leigh had returned the frightened animal to the sanctuary of her bedroom, unable to determine what had terrified it, and after being thoroughly chastised by her parents, she promised that it wouldn't happen again. Thankfully, Doom had decided not to journey into the rest of the house again, content to remain in the safety of her bedroom. And he'd stayed there for the past five years. She never did find out what it was that had scared him so badly, and it did bother Leigh a little, even to the present. She still thought about it from time to time, but she was never able to come up with a plausible reason.

Shaking her head to try and clear it of any thought, she manoeuvred herself so that she was lying on her stomach at the foot of her bed, while her feet stretched behind her up where her pillows were. She buried her face Doom's fur, while he lay all the while purring contentedly. Though she tried desperately to block out the memory of the nightmare she'd had, she just couldn't seem to forget it.

She'd been little, maybe three or four years old, and she'd been standing at the end of a fairly long hallway. At the other end of the hallway had stood the now-familiar woman with brown hair and green eyes identical to her own. Leigh had tried to run to the woman, who'd stood with arms out toward her, but found herself unable to move due to a strong grip on her arm. As she struggled against the iron grip, the hallway became longer and longer, until finally the familiar woman had vanished from sight. Young Leigh felt fear flood through her as she turned around to face her captor, who, to her horror, had been her father! Leigh looked down at herself once more to find that she was no longer little, but the near adult she currently was. She looked back up at her father to find him laughing maniacally…

…And that had been right around the time she'd awoken. She'd had similar dreams before, dreams where some invisible force had held her back from reaching the woman in her dream, but this had been the first time she'd actually seen the face of her captor. The fact that it had been her father terrified and confused her beyond all sense. She really hated the nightmares; she was beginning to doubt herself, doubt everything she knew. She was beginning to question her own sanity; the uncertainty of it all truly terrified her. She was anxious for the results of the DNA test, so that she could find out the truth once and for all. So far, however, there had been no word from Mick St. John. In the several days since she'd given him a sample of her DNA, the nightmares had gotten significantly worse, and she'd been extremely on edge. Her parents had seemed to notice that she was acting strangely, as they kept asking her if she was alright. Every time they'd done this, she'd cleared her mind, plastered a fake smile to her face, and informed them that she was fine. She was pretty sure that they hadn't believed her when she'd said it, however they seemed to have decided not to press the matter.

Flustered and frustrated beyond all belief, she moved back up on her bed, so that her head was once more up at her pillows and her feet were at the bottom. Heaving a sigh, she flopped back onto her pillows and tried to focus on the movie.

Near the end of the movie, Leigh had finally managed to calm herself and was just slipping into an uneasy rest when she heard a faint noise coming from her bedside table. At first she was confused and disoriented, looking around dazedly for the source of the noise. She opened her drawer and rummaged around in it, but nothing in her drawer seemed to be making the noise. Then it dawned on her…it was the disposable cell phone!

She quickly opened the false bottom of the drawer and removed the phone, answering it quickly both out of anticipation and out of concern that the significantly louder noise would awaken her parents.

"H-Hello?" She asked quietly, in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"Hi Leigh, it's me, Mick. I hope you can forgive me for the hour, but I figured that it was probably the best time to call. I'm really sorry if I woke you."

"No, no…I was awake already anyway. And yeah…my parents are in bed." Leigh told him, straining to listen for any sound that might suggest that her parents had been awakened by the noise of the phone. So far, she heard nothing.

"So I got the results back from the DNA test today…" Mick began; sounding as though he were trying to figure out how best to phrase what he was about to say. "And…well, maybe you should sit-"

"Just tell me." Leigh said anxiously. There was a momentary pause at the end of the phone and Leigh was sure that she was going to die of anticipation. Then it came. Those four little words that she'd been both dreading and anticipating for several days; the words that irreversibly changed everything she had come to know and accept.

"It was a match."

Leigh was silent. She'd heard the words…she'd understood them…but she had yet to fully comprehend them.

"Leigh? Are you still there?" Came Mick's concerned voice.

"Yeah…yeah, still here…" Leigh muttered absently, numbly. It felt as though she were detached from the situation…like she was no longer herself; like she was merely observing the situation. Then the shock wore off, and like a tsunami the reality of the situation finally hit her. As the true meaning of Mick's words finally sank in, Leigh felt as though her stomach had suddenly dropped out from under her; she could feel her throat beginning to constrict and tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"A-are you absolutely s-sure?" She managed to croak out, which was difficult considering her throat was suddenly as dry as a desert.

"The test is 99.998 accurate." Mick replied, a gentle, concerned tone filling his voice. "Are you okay, Leigh?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine. Thank you very much, Mr. St. John." Leigh replied, ending the call before Mick could even have a chance to respond. Once she'd ended the call, she let the phone slip from her fingertips onto the soft blankets of her bed. She attempted to stand up, meaning to make her way to the bathroom to get herself a drink, but she found she was so overcome with emotion that when she tried to stand her legs buckled beneath her, and she curled up on the floor of her bedroom, hugging her knees fiercely to her chest, as she was overcome by a fit of sobbing. She continued to cry like that for a long time as her entire world, her entire life, came crashing down around her, shattering into a million tiny pieces at her feet.

AN: Well, there you have it. I know, I know…damn evil cliffies. But I can't help it. I have an addiction. And things are about to get a whole lot more interesting, now that the truth has finally come out. Sorry it's taken so long to get this up…unfortunately between final projects and frantic cramming for upcoming exams, I have little time left to write. As soon as summer vacation starts, however, (which will be in about…18 days!) I'll have a lot more free time to write, and I'll have chapters up more frequently. So…yeah. I think now that I'm finished this chapter (and since it's like, 30 degrees Celsius outside. Ugh!) I'm going to take my younger siblings outside and have them pelt water balloons at me. :D

Love always,

Cat.


	8. Of Wars and Revelations

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen.

AN: I just want to say that I'm EXTREMELY sorry for the recent lack of updates…things have been pretty hectic lately, what with my online course and such…and pretty much just life in general. So yeah…really sorry folks. Anyway, not much to report, seeing as my life is incredibly dull, and so, being the wonderful, incredible person you all know and love, I'll get straight to the story.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Roger asked Leigh for the fourth time, his eyes pleading with her to reconsider her decision. Every few seconds, his eyes glanced surreptitiously at the hand she had wrapped tightly round Kyle's.

"I'm sure." Leigh responded, yet again, trying to make him understand. "I have to do this, Roger. I can't stay here anymore. Not after-"

"Not after some random stranger told you that you were some missing 3-year-old?" Roger tried, hoping he could talk some sense into her, "Leigh…you barely even know the guy. You met him twice-"

"And I already know that I trust what he says more than I trust anyone else in this damned Community!" Leigh half shouted, her expression pleading, almost desperate. "Roger…you've been dismissing my theories about the Community for years as just paranoid delusions, but now you've got real evidence staring you in the face and-"

"'Real evidence'?" Roger asked with a scoff. "Leigh, you don't even know that this guy is trustworthy. For all you know he could have lied about the results of the test! Or maybe he just didn't even bother doing it!" He looked at Kyle, silently begging him to convince Leigh not to do something so stupid. He knew Kyle had always had conspiracy theories about the Community, but he wasn't stupid. He'd never publicly admitted them or done anything to stir up trouble. He was Roger's last hope at convincing Leigh not to leave the Community…and Roger knew that Kyle was the only person that _might_ be able to pull it off.

"Leigh believes Mick." Kyle pronounced, "And quite frankly, that's good enough for me. Even _you_ can't deny that there's something weird going on here, Roger. And we aren't safe here. Not anymore. That's assuming we ever really were safe to begin with. And, I mean, why would a total stranger lie to Leigh?"

Roger looked down at the pair of duffel bags on the ground beside Kyle, unable to come up with a feasible answer. On the ground beside Leigh was the cat-carrier containing Doom. Roger looked up at the pair standing before him again.

"This is stupid. And dangerous. The Community is the only home you've ever known. You can't survive outside those walls on your own. Not just yet, anyway. Have you even given a thought as to what you'd do _if_, and that's a BIG if, you did manage to make it out of the Community again and avoid being found?"

"Of course I have. I've already made the arrangements." Leigh responded. Upon discovering the results of the DNA test Mick had done, she'd called Kyle and asked him to meet her. She'd broken down again in his arms, crying hysterically as she related to him the conversation she'd had with Mick. Once he'd finally managed to absorb the information himself and calm her down as well, they'd hatched a daring escape plan. Using the disposable cell phone, they'd called Mick and made arrangements with him to meet at his loft. He'd shelter them there until his friend…Josef something…could relocate them to a safer place. From there, they would track down Leigh's biological parents. Their plan was far from foolproof, but at the moment it was the only one they had. Leigh had called Roger to meet them and filled him in, though Kyle had been completely against it. He didn't trust Roger, but Roger had been Leigh's best friend for years, and she insisted that he was trustworthy and that she couldn't just leave without saying goodbye to him.

Roger ran a hand through his hair. "Don't do this, Leigh." He pleaded. "Don't go."

Leigh heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry, Roger. Really I am. But I can't stay here. I have to leave."

Roger heaved a sigh of his own. "I'm the one who should be sorry." He said, not looking her in the eye. There was something in his face and his tone that instantly turned her blood icy. "I mean, I tried to tell you it was a bad idea…I didn't want it to have to come to this…"

Without warning, a dozen Community officials dressed in full uniform appeared seemingly out of nowhere. They swarmed the area beneath the willow tree, surrounding the three teenagers on all sides.

Leigh's body tensed up like it always did before a fight. She knew there was no way she could take all of them, but she was going to put up a damn good fight. She looked around in all directions, desperately seeking an opening. There was none. She whipped her head back around to stare incredulously at Roger, a wild look in her eye.

"R-Roger?" She managed to get out, trying to process what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Leigh, really I am." Roger said earnestly, his eyes begging her to believe him while the guards closed in on them. "But I couldn't let you leave…its suicide. You know what the consequences are…I couldn't let you put your life on the line."

Leigh stared at her best friend, her betrayer, in horror as one of the guards wrapped his arms firmly around her from behind.

"NO!" She screamed, wriggling frantically in his grasp, kicking and thrashing and clawing at every part of him she could reach from her awkward position. The guard was surprisingly strong, but he was still having a fairly difficult time holding onto Leigh, as she was using every possible escape mechanism that had been hard-wired into her brain from the time she was five years old. She tried desperately to pull away and run to Kyle, but she couldn't manage to shake the guard that was holding her.

"LET GO OF HER! NO! LEIGH!" Kyle shouted as three guards surrounded him, grabbing him roughly by the arms. Kyle fought furiously against them, and managed to hit one in the face. He struggled to get to Leigh, who was being pulled in the opposite direction.

"KYLE!" Leigh shouted, jumping up and kicking the guard that came to assist the other one in the stomach. The guard fell to the ground, but shook it off almost immediately and jumped to his feet. He looked like he was hardly even affected by it. Leigh was confused and horrified…a kick like that to the stomach should have knocked any normal man down onto the ground for several minutes…she had very little time to ponder this, however, as the guard took a swing at her in retaliation. She was nearly blinded by the pain as she felt his fist collide with her jaw, and immediately stopped struggling, dazed and confused as she was.

"NO! DON'T HURT HER!" Roger shouted at the guard. The guard looked back at Roger, a reproachful look on his face. "The Leader said that you can't hurt her! Do you want to have to answer to him?"

Leigh was only stunned for a moment. As soon as the pain began to dull into a throb she started struggling against her captor once more.

"Wait…Leader? What does he have to do with this? What have you done, Roger?"

Roger said nothing, wouldn't even look at her as he motioned for the guards to take her away. He could just faintly hear Kyle shouting from the other direction as he was carried away by the guards.

"ROGER! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?! ROGER!"

As Leigh's screams faded into the distance, Roger heaved a sigh. He just hoped that the Leader would take it easy on her.

MLMLMLMLML

The Leader sat on a high-backed chair much resembling a throne on a raised platform in the centre of the room. He stared coldly at the four people…or rather, the four vampires standing before him. Their faces reflected their terror of him…the air of power he gave off was overpowering to the much younger ones. There was complete silence in the room for a long time, none of the four in front of him daring to talk out of turn. Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, the Leader spoke.

"Well…have you nothing to say for yourselves?" He asked, sounding as disgusted as he currently looked. The others stood in silence, their heads bowed, too terrified to make eye contact with him. "I see." He said coldly.

Standing up from his seat, he descended the three steps leading down off the raised platform and began pacing back and forth in front of the vampires. After doing so several times, he stopped mid-stride and turned to face them.

"Do you have any idea of the severity of the situation in which the Community now finds itself due to your neglectful actions?" The Leader asked in a deceitfully calm voice. Though he'd spoken barely above a whisper and had betrayed no emotion, the four vampires flinched as though he had bellowed. "This could ruin all our plans…it could undermine our destiny! All because you let your children run amok!"

"W-we never thought-" Brenda Francis began stammering, but was immediately interrupted by the furious Leader.

"Apparently not!" The Leader cut in, making Brenda whimper quietly. "And because of your lack of intelligent thought, you've endangered not only our Community, but all of the other Communities as well. Our campaign's success relies on secrecy! And as your children have left the Community, they've exposed us and violated our secrecy!"

The Leader took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, running a hand through his straight, dark-brown hair as he resumed his pacing. He may have been ancient by vampire standards, but as far as human age was concerned, he didn't look a day over 25. He had an olive complexion and broad, muscular shoulders. He was tall, well over six feet, and he was exceedingly handsome, with soft features and a strong jaw. His eyes, however, seemed to be empty brown pits. This man was easily one of the oldest known living vampires at over 3 200 years old.

Which was why, at this particular moment, he was infuriated by the neglect displayed by the vampires standing before him. He'd been carefully and meticulously scheming and planning for centuries…millennia even, and he was not about to have his plan unravel before his very eyes because of two meddlesome teenage _humans_. Not when he was so close to bringing it to life.

After taking another deep, unnecessary breath, the Leader stopped once more in front of the vampires.

"Well what do you propose I do about this? Hm?" He asked, looking over at the two silent vampires to his left, a man and a woman. The woman had long, blond hair and pale blue eyes, stood about was about 5'10 tall, and looked to be about 35. The man standing beside her was just over 6 feet tall, with jet-black hair, a goatee, and steel blue eyes. He looked to be about 38. "How do you propose I punish them? You know the laws. Are you willing to see your children executed?"

"No, please don't!" The blonde woman, Margaret Dekker, cried, "They're just children, it wasn't their fault! They don't deserve it! It was our fault! Please…don't kill my baby!" She began to sob. Her husband Luke put an arm around her shoulder as she broke down. The Leader continued to stare coldly at them, clearly unaffected by the display of affection. Turning his back on them, the Leader returned to his chair on the raised platform and sat back down in his seat.

"The knowledge Kyle and Cayleigh possess is a danger to the Community; to all of us. They must be dealt with…however," The Leader paused for a moment, choosing his words, "They are still of use to us…Cayleigh in particular. She is the most adept candidate to lead the campaign against the humans…even as a young child, I saw in her the leadership qualities required for the position." The Leader paused for a long moment, the only sound in the room being Margaret's sniffling. "Given the current circumstances, I propose this; Kyle and Cayleigh will undergo their Coming of Age ceremonies as planned. They will, however, remain under House arrest and have constant supervision in the meantime. Having proven themselves to be a dangerous combination, any and all contact between them is to be terminated. It is my sincere hope that they will change their attitudes after the Ceremony…under the guidance of their sire, I find that fledglings are much more receptive to certain ideas. I have no doubt that after they are turned they will come around to our way of thinking."

"And what if they don't respond?" Margaret asked fearfully.

"Then they are of no further use to us." The Leader replied casually. The implication of that statement was not lost on the four vampires. They stood in silence, staring at the floor as the Leader began shouting orders to guards and arranging for constant surveillance on Kyle and Leigh. Finally, when all of the guards had bustled out of the room, the Leader turned to the parents.

"You are dismissed." He said curtly, and with a bow of their heads, they hurried from the chamber.

The room was deathly quiet for a few moments. The Leader closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"You can come out now, Roger." He said.

Roger stepped out from where he'd stood hidden in the shadows during the whole conversation and silently approached the platform. He bowed quickly before standing up straight and speaking.

"Sir?" He asked timidly, "You…you aren't really going to hurt her, right?"

The Leader sighed and regarded the boy. Roger was by far the closest person he had to a friend. At the age of 14, Roger had discovered the secret behind the Community, and, being an ambitious boy who desired power, had become the Leader's most faithful follower. Roger had always revelled in the idea that someday he would be a vampire…that he would have power and immortality. In the interest of self-preservation and in the greater good of the Community, he had kept the secret from the other children of the Community, even Leigh. In exchange for his silence and his devotion, he became the Leader's second-in-command, privy to all of the goings-on of the Community. It was obvious that, seeing the ambition and potential in Roger, the Leader was grooming him to be a leader.

It was very rare that Roger would question the Leader, being his most loyal follower, however the Leader also knew that Roger cared deeply for Leigh.

"It depends on her. I always knew that, under the wrong circumstances, she could be a threat. But it is what makes her a threat that also makes her a great asset to our cause. She has her own mind…the mind of a leader. It was unfortunate that the situation turned out the way it did…it was a mistake, her ever getting involved with the Dekker boy. I'd hoped that you might be able to change her mind…however, it seems that she is determined in her thoughts." He gave a small, reassuring smile at the look of absolute horror on the boy's face, "There is still a chance she will come around. As I said earlier, most fledglings are responsive to the ideas of their sires after they have been turned. It is my hope that she will become more…sympathetic to our cause after the Ceremony."

Roger nodded silently. After a moment of intent thought, the boy finally spoke again.

"Sir? May I…May I ask you something?"

The Leader contemplated the boy for a moment before replying.

"I suppose…but I cannot guarantee an answer."

Roger looked nervous for a moment, trying to decide how to best phrase his question.

"Why…why is it that you hate humans so much? I mean…you used to be one at one point, so…" He trailed off. The Leader was taken aback by the question, and Roger mistook his surprise for anger. "I-I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't mean to-"

"There are very few people on this earth today, if any, who know that my real name is Philander." The Leader cut across him, silencing the boy instantly. "As you know, I'm extremely old…over three thousand years. I saw history being born…I lived through the world as it changed and grew. I was born in the late 1100's B.C., in a city called Troy."

The Leader gave a small, rueful chuckle at the look on the boy's face as understanding dawned on him.

"But…the Trojan War…isn't that just Legend?"

"History has a way of fading into Legend as time passes…particularly ancient history. It's common knowledge that every legend has at least some grain of truth to it. Well…for the most part, the legend of the Trojan War happened as it says…although obviously the part pertaining to the Gods is completely ludicrous. That was added in by the Greeks after the fact…perhaps simply because Menelaus couldn't come to terms with the fact that his dear wife Helen had simply tired of him, and that was why she left him for Paris. Regardless, it started a vicious war that lasted for ten long years. I was your age…just seventeen that fateful night when it came to a head. The Greeks left the giant wooden horse outside the city gate. Everyone thought that it was a gesture of good faith, as the Greeks had surrendered. We found out otherwise that night, however, when the Greek soldiers crept from the horse and slew all of the people of Troy. My friends, my family…they all died. I listened, powerless, as my mother, my father, my younger sister and brother…they were savagely murdered…I can remember it as if it were yesterday. I can still hear their screams, burned into my memory…"

He trailed off. Roger stood there in awe, clearly absorbed in the story. As Philander remained silent, Roger, against his better judgment, prompted him.

"What happened after that?"

Philander let out a sigh.

"I was the only one that managed to survive the slaughter. After my escape, I spent several years wandering, not sure where to go. I met a vampire when I was twenty-three, and he turned me. He gave me the power to avenge my family and my people. Once I was turned, I realized how powerful I had become…how weak I had been as a human. If I'd had that sort of power when my family had been murdered, then I could have stopped it. I realized how inferior and weak human beings are…they're beneath us."

Roger just nodded, still absorbing the information he'd just been given. He was finding it nearly impossible to wrap his head around the fact that the Leader had lived so long.

After a long moment of silence, the Leader spoke once more.

"Your Ceremony is tomorrow, is it not?"

A smile broke out on Roger's face at the thought.

"Yes sir, it is."

"You should go and begin preparing, then." The Leader responded. Roger nodded and turned to go, before the Leader spoke once more. "I look forward to being your sire."

Roger turned and smiled. "Thank you, sir."

With that, Roger turned and left. The Leader, for his part, did not sire many of the fledglings that left the Community. He only sired those he saw great leadership potential in. Most of the children in the Community were soldiers and nothing more, however there were a select few that he deemed worthy of his superior breeding. Roger was certainly one of those…and, when it came time to perform her Ceremony, Leigh would be as well.

TBC…

AN: Again, SO sorry for the lack of updates. I've had a lot on my plate with the online Civics course I had to take, so…it's been busy. Now that I've finished with it, however, I had time to hammer this out. I'm happy to say that, after the seven chapter long set-up, we're finally starting to get into some decent action in this story. And now I've revealed not only the conspiracy theory in this particularly twisted plot, but the Leader as well. Heh. Yeah…I'm that good. Anyway, stay tuned for the next instalment of the story. Although you know…I find that burning waffles for ritual sacrifice helps speed things up. And hey, even if the waffle gods aren't smiling down upon you…burning waffles is fun. :D

Love always, Cat.


	9. Waiting For Death

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen.

AN: I've got a question for you all. Yeah, I know…it's Poll week! Anyway…so what do you do when you wake up at 4:30 a.m. and can't for the life of you get back to sleep? Answers as though it's the most obvious thing in the world You write Fanfiction, of course! Yeah, I figured that, since this is the most popular of my stories and it's also the one I'm getting the most inspiration for at the moment, I'm going to focus most of my energy on this one right now. I will, of course, be writing for my other stories as well, but they're kind of going on the backburner. Oh, and as for recent happenings…I got a kickass new 4GB mp3 player that also plays video files. So, you know, I can watch episodes of my favourite shows on it. Yay! Anyway…enough of my rambling on about my amazing new toy…and onto the next chapter!

Leigh remembered now. After almost fifteen years of blocking them out, locking them away in some secret part of her brain, the dormant memories of her former life…her _real_ life, came flooding back to her in a tidal wave. For the first time, she truly remembered the events of her kidnapping…it wasn't just something she'd dreamt about anymore. She remembered feeling funny as the overwhelming stench of the cloth pressed to her face filled her lungs. She remembered being unable to move or speak before blacking out. She remembered waking up in a strange place, surrounded by strange people…the people she'd been convinced for fifteen years were her parents. She remembered huddling in corners and under desks, terrified and hiding from the strangers. Most importantly of all…she remembered her childhood before the kidnapping. Christmases and birthdays, family gatherings and play dates. It was all there.

She couldn't for the life of her remember how…or even when she could have forgotten it all. She knew that her fragile three-year-old mind must have buried the memories in an attempt to shield itself from the trauma; too young to even begin to know how to deal with it all. Still…how could you just wake up one morning having completely forgotten three years of your life? Having forgotten that you've been kidnapped and that somewhere out there your parents must think the worst?

Her parents…Leigh remembered them, now, too. She remembered the endless hours he spent playing tea party with her and watching hours upon hours of her favourite childhood programming. She remembered her mother, kissing and hugging her at every available opportunity, making brownies and, to Leigh's delight, allowing her to lick the bowl. Two of the most loving, devoted parents on the face of the planet. It broke Leigh's heart to imagine the suffering and despair they must have felt all these years without her; not knowing what ever happened to her, most likely thinking she was dead.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the lock click on the outside of her door. She saw her parents…no, the _impostors _enter the room, and caught a glimpse of the guards that had been stationed outside her door to make sure she didn't escape. She couldn't help but think that house arrest felt more like being in a maximum-security prison with all of the creature comforts.

"Supper time, Leigh." Brenda said, placing a tray of food on her bedside table. Leigh shot her a look of pure disgust and turned away once again. From his spot on the bed Doom, who had been returned to Leigh by her parents as a show of good faith shortly after she'd been put under house arrest, hissed loudly in Brenda's direction.

"Leigh…" Robert began, a pleading tone to his voice, "We're doing this for your own good. Because we care about you."

"Yeah…like kidnapping me and lying to me for fifteen years was for my own good?" Leigh scoffed. "Keeping me prisoner in this godforsaken place is for my own good?"

"Being put under house arrest was better than the alternative!" Robert fumed, "You know the Leader was considering putting you to death? Do you know how difficult it was to convince the Leader to spare you?"

Silence filled the room as Leigh and Robert glared at each other. The only sound permeating the air was that of Robert's heavy, angry breathing. Finally, he took in a deep breath, breathed it out slowly, and continued in a tone of forced calm.

"This is only a temporary arrangement until after your Ceremony. There are things you don't yet understand…things you won't understand until after. But I promise you, you'll understand why we've done the things we've done then. It's only five days, Leigh."

"I highly doubt I'll understand any better than I do now." Leigh spat, her voice dripping with resentment.

"We'll see about that." Robert replied. He ushered Brenda out the door, and just before he closed it he turned and looked back at Leigh. "You'd better eat your Pizza before it gets cold."

With that, he closed the door, leaving Leigh in silent thought.

Laying back on her bed, Leigh could just hear the click of the padlock on her door. She had no idea what on earth it was about the Ceremony that her parents thought would change her mind, but she had five days to think about it. Wait…five days…

Leigh sat bolt upright in bed, a horrifying realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. Five days…that meant that today was Kyle's 18th birthday! That meant that his Ceremony would be today!

"No…no no no no no!" Leigh muttered to herself, pacing back and forth across her room. This couldn't be happening…not now, not so soon…she hadn't had time to come up with a plan to escape…no!

Leigh's mind came up with a million and one different worst-case-scenarios as to what they would do to him at the Ceremony. Would they brainwash him? Torture him? Inflict serious bodily harm? Kill him? Her mind raced as she came up with scenario after scenario, each more disturbing than the last. In the midst of all of her uncertainties, she knew one thing for sure. Somehow, some way, she would have to escape. She had to help Kyle. The question was…how?

MLMLMLMLML

"Mick, it's been two days…something's not right!" Beth told Mick, who was pacing back and forth across his loft.

"I know, Beth, I know." Mick responded, stopping mid-stride to turn and look at her. "She's not answering the disposable cell phone…she should have at least called by now if she'd run into trouble…"

"So what are we going to do?" Beth asked, giving him a determined look. Mick threw up his hands in frustration.

"I honestly don't know, Beth. Leigh said the Community has highly-trained guards at the only entrance to the Community-"

"Couldn't you just jump over the wall?" Beth asked.

"They've got guards that patrol the perimeter." Mick responded, remembering what Leigh had told him. "Besides…some of them, if not all of them, are vamps, Beth. They'd be expecting something like that. The place is a fortress…a fortress that isn't located on any known maps, which means they've worked pretty hard to conceal their existence. We can't just march in there and demand that they hand over Leigh and Kyle!"

"Then what do we do?" Beth asked, becoming frustrated herself, "We can't just turn our backs on them, look the other way, Mick. We said we'd help them, and-"

"I'm not saying we should turn our backs on them, Beth! But what do you propose we do? Because quite frankly, I'm fresh out of ideas!" Mick all but yelled.

There was a moment of tense silence before Mick let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair, a nervous gesture of his, and began pacing once more.

"Whatever we do, we'd better act fast." Beth said quietly, almost timidly, "Because Leigh's birthday is in five days, and God only knows what they'll do to her during that 'Ceremony'."

"I know." Mick said quietly.

In the silence that ensued, a horrible thought crossed Beth's mind.

"Mick, you don't think they'll actually try to…turn her, do you?" Beth asked fearfully.

"The thought has crossed my mind." Mick admitted. With a heavy sigh, he sat down on the couch beside Beth. "You are right, though…we haven't got any time to waste in dealing with this."

They sat for an hour, discussing possible tactics and plans of attack. In the end, though, Mick was frustrated to find that he really only had one option in the matter; he had to rush in with guns blazing and hope for the best.

"I'm going to call Josef and tell him what the plan is." Mick said finally, after he'd decided that they would attack that night. "I have a feeling I'm going to need all the help I can get with this one."

"Good idea. I have to go home and get a few things and then-"

"Wait? What?" Mick asked. Beth rolled her eyes.

"I'm going with you, Mick."

"No, you're not." Mick said, a tone of finality in his voice.

"Yes, I am." Beth replied firmly, just as determined as Mick was in her decision. "You said so yourself, you need all the help you can get."

"Yeah, but…" Mick said, "when I said 'help', I meant _vampire_ help. I can't focus on getting Leigh and Kyle out of there if I'm babysitting you-"

"_Babysitting_?" Beth asked scornfully, glaring at Mick. Mick groaned, realizing too late that he'd said the wrong thing. "Is that what I am? A child to be babysat? Well fine! I'll just go play somewhere else and leave you in peace!"

With that, she grabbed her jacket out of the chair and stormed toward the door.

"Beth, wait!" Mick said, getting up quickly and vamp-speeding to the door. Beth barely had time to reach out for the handle before Mick's hand was on her arm, turning her around to face him.

As Beth turned around to face him, anger still blazing in her eyes, she was caught off guard by how close he was to her. Mick put his hand on her other arm, ensuring that she stayed where she was and that he had her full and undivided attention. Not that Beth actually thought she could move at the moment; she was completely and utterly captivated by his eyes and the pure, raw emotion they betrayed.

"Beth…that came out wrong. It wasn't what I meant. It's just…I care about you. A lot. Too much to allow you to put yourself in danger like that. If you came with me, I wouldn't be able to do my job _and_ protect you at the same time. And if anything happened to you because I couldn't come save you, I…I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I need you, Beth. I-I love you."

Beth just stared up at him, feeling as though she were about to cry. He'd said it. The thing she'd waited to hear from him for so long…he'd said it.

Without warning, Beth pulled him down for a kiss. It began soft and tender, her lips just barely grazing his, but soon it deepened, and she found herself urgently trying to pull him closer to her. She felt Mick's arms wrap around her and smiled against his lips, happy tears streaming down her face. Her tongue darted out through her lips, eagerly licking at his, begging for access. Mick was only too happy to oblige, and soon their tongues were wrapping around each other, clashing furiously.

Mick could smell the saline droplets dripping down her face and almost felt like crying himself. He'd thought of this moment…dreamt of it for so long that it was hard to believe it was finally here.

When Beth finally had to break away for air, Mick nipped at her bottom lip before pulling back, grinning.

"I would have said that a long time ago if I knew that was the reaction I'd get."

Beth laughed, a sound that was pure music to Mick's ears. He reached out and gently laid his hand on the side of her face, and she leaned into the touch.

"You need to go home now, Beth. I need to know you're safe and out of harm's way."

Beth nodded mutely and threw her arms around Mick in a last desperate embrace.

"Be safe." She whispered in his ear, before turning and leaving. Mick stood and watched the door as it shut, then flicked his gaze over to the wall monitor. As soon as he heard the elevator doors close outside, he grabbed his vampire hunting kit and pulled out his cell phone, speed-dialling Josef.

"Hey Josef, it's me. Listen, something's come up…no, it can't wait. We need to talk…now…"

MLMLMLMLML

Mick pulled the Benz up to the woods just outside the Community. Leigh had given him the co-ordinates during their first meeting, and with the help of his roadmap, he was able to find the 'wooded area' that was actually the Community. Josef sat in the passenger's seat, dressed not in his usual business attire, but simple black pants and a black long-sleeve shirt. He had a veritable arsenal of stakes and a few pistols loaded with silver bullets strapped to his body, and he even had a freshly sharpened sword sheathed and strapped to his back. Mick wore his usual jeans and a Henley, with his black leather trench coat. He had a similar arsenal to Josef's strapped to him, his sword hidden in the folds of his overcoat.

"You sure you're ready to do this?" Mick asked, turning to Josef, "You might get your hands dirty."

Josef scoffed, "You know Mick, I may _have_ people to do it for me but, on occasion, I like to do some of my own killing."

Mick chuckled and grinned before climbing out of the car. Just as he was about to start walking, a thought struck him. He took his cell phone out of his pocket and tossed it on the dash.

"Alright…let's do this."

Josef climbed out the passenger's side, shut his door quietly, and set off with Mick in the direction of the Community.

MLMLMLMLML

Beth was pacing nervously in her apartment, her mind full of thoughts. Mick had _finally_ kissed her, and at first she had been thrilled. Halfway to her car, however, she'd gotten an image of Nightmare Josh, and all of the horrible things he'd said to her about Mick came flooding back. Now, she was overwhelmed with guilt. She was also worried for Mick's safety…she knew Josef would be there to watch his back, but still…she'd much rather be there to ensure Mick's safety for herself. She was also furious, because honestly, she didn't like being left behind. _Especially since this was MY case too_, she thought bitterly.

Beth walked over to the window of her apartment and sighed. If only she'd refused to let him go without her…even gotten the location beforehand and followed him there…

Beth suddenly stood up straight, a thought striking her. _Mick's cell phone_! No doubt his cell would have a tracking device in it…and if he'd taken it with him, then she'd be able to follow it right to his location. And the Community.

Without a second thought, Beth grabbed her phone and accessed the tracking device in Mick's phone. Sure enough, the signal showed that it was right on the edge of L.A. Filled with pride, she allowed herself a private smile before she grabbed her car keys and other things and headed out the door.

MLMLMLMLML

It took Beth nearly 45 minutes of driving to arrive at the location. It certainly _was_ a very remote location. She instantly spotted the Benz parked just outside of a wooded area and pulled up alongside it. She got out of the car and approached it, finding Mick's cell phone sitting on the dash.

Turning on her flashlight as the last rays of the evening sun faded into darkness, Beth began to wander through the woods, walking deeper and deeper into the forest. It took several minutes for her to find the Community wall, and once she did, she knew Mick had been right. This place _was_ a fortress. The wall was about fifteen feet high, made of red brick and with a concrete ledge at the top. The wall extended as far as she could see in all directions, save for the gap that was the gate. Beth crept quietly closer to the gate, until she reached a point just short of the bridge that extended across the river.

She saw several uniformed guards standing in front of the gate…all of them seemed to be unarmed. Beth, however, wasn't fooled; she knew that, in all likelihood, they were vampires…which meant that they had no need for weapons, because they _were_ weapons in themselves. As Beth took a small step forward, she heard a small crackling sound beneath her foot. Under normal circumstances, the sound would have been insignificant…barely audible. But in the deafening silence of the woods, she might as well have just blared a foghorn.

She ducked quickly behind a tree as the guards looked up, suddenly alert, searching for the source of the noise. She watched, horrified, as one of the guards closed his eyes and turned his head up, as though he were scenting the air. He said something to the other guards, and they began walking over to where she stood, crouching low behind her tree.

Beth's suspicions that they were vampires confirmed, she did what came to her instinctually; the only thing she really could do in this situation, actually: she ran. Dodging trees and jumping over fallen trunks, she ran as fast as she possibly could in the direction of her car, not looking back. If she could just reach it before they caught her, then maybe…

Suddenly and without warning, she was intercepted by one of the uniformed guards. Before she had time to stop herself, she ran right into him with enough force to knock down even the biggest human man. Unfortunately, however, this man _wasn't_ a normal human man. He didn't even move as she ploughed into him, and he quickly wrapped his arms around her, restraining her so that she couldn't get free. Not that she didn't try; she kicked and screamed, bit and clawed at any and every available body part. She writhed in his arms. No matter what she did, however, it was simply no use. With his solid build and superior vampire strength, escape was impossible.

A few shouted orders and the arrival of two more guards found Beth being forcefully led to the Community gate. The guards had been arguing quietly, clearly deliberating what was to be done with her. Finally, they seemed to have reached a decision, and began pushing her toward the bridge.An escort holding either arm and one behind for good measure, Beth knew that escape was impossible. She had no choice but to comply and so, with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she allowed the guards to lead her into the Community.

After about ten minutes of silent walking through the dark, deserted streets of an eerily perfect-looking suburban society, Beth found herself being pushed through the door of a building. Silently, she prayed that Mick would find her before they had a chance to do any serious harm to her…

All of Beth's previous thoughts melted away as fear began to set into the pit of her stomach. She found herself in a huge, immaculate chamber, the walls covered in ancient-looking tapestries and portraits. Countless black candles hung in candelabras mounted to the wall cast the only light in the room, shrouding the place in shadows. In the centre if the room there was a huge, medieval-style raised stone slab, covered in ornate carvings and surrounded by at least a hundred people dressed in black robes. To Beth's horror, Kyle was chained to the table, shackles holding his hands and feet firmly in place as he struggled frantically against them, screaming and thrashing madly. She couldn't help but think how much this resembled one of those cult rituals you'd see in a horror movie.

"LET ME OUT OF THIS! LET ME GO! ARRRGGGHHH!!" Kyle shouted loudly, "HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP!"

"KYLE!" Beth cried, struggling against the guards that still held firmly to her arms.

Kyle looked over in Beth's direction and shouted, "NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" He told the guards, a look of fear crossing his panicked face at the thought of an innocent party getting hurt. He recognized her immediately as the young reporter that had helped Mick St. John with Leigh's investigation, despite only having met the woman once. She was now a victim of circumstance…simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"SILENCE!" A cold voice rang out, clearly annoyed at the unwelcome interruption to the proceedings. The whole room went quiet as all eyes turned toward the source of the voice, a figure in a dark cloak sitting in a throne-like chair on a raised platform. Beth guessed that, from the way everyone was looking at him, he was the "Leader" Leigh had told Mick about.

"What is the meaning of this?" The figure asked the guards, standing up and removing his black hood, staring coldly at the guards. Beth felt involuntary shivers run down her spine as the Leader's cold, empty eyes swept over her.

"We found her sneaking around outside the wall…lurking in the woods, Sir." One of the guards immediately answered, bowing his head as he did so, "We weren't sure what she was doing there…or what to do with her, for that matter. We were going to execute her there on the spot, but we decided that we should bring her to you instead."

The Leader stared at her for a moment with his empty, emotionless eyes, and then a cold, cruel smile overtook his features, chilling Beth's blood in her veins.

"I may have a use for her after all." He said, and Beth knew deep down that she wasn't going to like whatever he had in mind, "Once the Ceremony is complete, our Fledgling will no doubt need his first meal. Usually they're given bagged blood but…I find they often do better with fresh blood."

Beth's heart stopped. She began to shake uncontrollably, terrified, realizing that, very soon, she was probably going to die. And Mick was nowhere in sight. She didn't even have a way to contact him, as the guards had taken her phone immediately upon capturing her. She should have just listened to Mick…she should have just stayed at home. And she wouldn't even live long enough to hear him say 'I told you so'.

The Leader grinned, sensing her terror, and seated himself in his chair once more.

"Resume the Ceremony." He announced, and the countless black-robed figures in the room turned back to the stone table before them. Two figures in black robes stepped forward, removing their hoods. They turned to the Leader, who spoke.

"Lucas and Margaret Dekker, your son, Kyle Dekker, who has been entrusted to you, has now come of age. He has received all necessary training for the tasks that lie ahead; he is now ready to take the next step in his life's journey. Drain from him his life's blood and induct him into our vampiric fraternity."

Lucas and Margaret bowed their heads to the leader and turned to Kyle, who was still thrashing and shouting. He stopped immediately, however, upon seeing the transformation that had overtaken his father's face. Lucas' face was pale, much paler than should have been humanly possible and his eyes had bled silvery white. Most terrifying of all, however, were the long, sharp fangs protruding from his mouth.

"Hold still, Kyle." Luke said quietly, "It hurts less. I promise, this will only take a moment. It'll all be over soon."

"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? NO!!" Kyle screamed, thrashing wildly in his chains, a wild, terrified look in his eyes as Luke bent over him.

Beth watched in horror as Lucas' fangs pierced Kyle's skin, the boy still struggling and screaming. Within moments, however, his movements became jerky and erratic, beginning to slow. After a few more moments, Kyle went silent and his body went limp. Luke immediately bit his wrist and held it to Kyle's mouth, allowing the blood to flow into the boy's open mouth.

After a moment of strained silence, Kyle swallowed reflexively, and began to stir. Luke immediately brought his wrist to his own mouth and licked it, helping to speed up the healing process. Suddenly, Kyle raised his head, attempting to sit up. The Leader nodded to another cloaked figure, who rushed forward and freed the boy from his bonds. Kyle staggered to his feet, looking around him, apparently disoriented. As the room broke into applause, Kyle fell to the floor, whimpering and covering his ears.

"What have you done to me?" He asked quietly, almost weakly, to no one in particular, "What the hell is happening to me?"

Margaret rushed over to him, crouching down beside him and hugging him to her chest.

"It's alright Kyle, this is normal for new turns…it's overwhelming at first, but it'll get easier, I promise, Kyle."

"New turns? What are you talking about?" Kyle whimpered, "And why do I feel like I'm burning up?"

Kyle began madly tearing at his clothes, pulling them off with frantic ferocity.

"You're a vampire, now, Kyle." His mother said quietly, gently, stroking his head.

"No…it's not true…it can't be! Vampires don't exist!"

"We do, Kyle. You've become one of us." Margaret replied.

"No…no…no…" He whimpered, shaking his head and looking frantically around, begging someone to tell him different. He'd seem his father's true face…he knew deep down it was true, but he didn't want to believe it. Then something caught his attention…a smell he hadn't smelled before, an intoxicating, delicious scent. Suddenly, his mouth went dry and he felt a sharp pain in his bottom lip. He reached up to touch his face, his expression becoming horrified as he touched his new fangs. He brought his hand down to stare, bewildered, at the miniscule amount of his own blood on his fingertips.

He looked up and was startled when he caught sight of the woman…Beth, if he remembered correctly…and saw all of the veins in her body outlined under her skin. Her terrified heartbeat, the sound of her rushing blood pounded in his ears, and he felt the sudden urge to go over and bite her, to drain all of the blood in her body.

Standing up, his only remaining clothing being his black bower shorts, he backed away quickly, backing into a wall as the crown parted to let him through.

"No…why? Why did you do this to me?" He asked incredulously, staring at his parents with wide, terrified eyes.

"Kyle, sweetheart…you'll understand soon. We'll explain it to you once you've gotten over the shock. The transition can be a little jarring, but you'll understand soon."

"Understand what?" Kyle asked, flinching away from his mother when she approached him. She looked hurt at having received such a reaction.

"Leave the boy be." The Leader finally spoke up, rising once more from his seat, "Let him have his first meal and take some rest. After he has rested, all will be explained to him."

Margaret nodded and backed away from her terrified son. The Leader descended the three stairs from the platform on which his chair was situated and approached Kyle. He gently took Kyle by the arm and led him to a small room just off of the chamber.

The room was bare, save for the freezer in the middle of it. The Leader motioned for the guards to bring Beth forward, and she was pushed roughly through the door. The Leader turned back to Kyle, speaking in a soft tone to spare the boy's sensitive ears.

"You need to understand that, as a vampire, life is going to be different for you. You'll have to sleep in a freezer like this one," The Leader gestured to the freezer with his hand, "to cool your body temperature. You will find that sleeping in the nude is the most effective manner of cooling your body. Also, you can no longer eat food. Instead," The Leader pulled a terrified Beth forward and brushed the hair from her neck, "you will drink blood. I understand that it's quite a change from what you're used to…you may even be repulsed by the very idea, but I assure you…just give into your instincts. Your body will take care of the rest."

"No…I can't, I won't do it!" Kyle said, backing away from Beth, his internal struggle evident in his eyes. He sank down onto the floor and curled up into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth.

"Suit yourself." The Leader said with a shrug, "Sooner or later you'll give in to your instincts…you won't be able to control yourself. I'll just leave her in here for you."

With that, the Leader motioned to the guards and they followed him out of the room. They immediately shut the door and Beth heard the distinctive click of a lock. She stood rooted to the spot, staring at Kyle, and the hungry look in his eyes. He quickly looked away from her, shutting his eyes tight and burying his face in his knees, starting to sob.

Beth backed away from him, sinking into a corner on the other side of the room. She was trapped; she knew it. And she knew that Kyle wouldn't be able to hold out very long. Soon he would have to feed, and then…the very thought of what would happen then terrified Beth. All she could do was sit and wait for death.

TBC…

AN: Yes, I know it's rare, but…two updates in the same week! Yay! You see, my muse for this story in particular is in a very creative mood lately, so…I figured I'd take full advantage of it while it was good. Like I said, I'm going to write for my other stories as well, but…right now this story is my top priority. I love the reviews I get from all of you…you're all really amazing, and I'm looking forward to reading them. For those of you who review after midnight tonight, however, I'll unfortunately have to wait to read your reviews. You see…my dad and I kind of have a bet going where neither of us can use the computer for 24 hours, starting midnight tonight, so…I'll have to wait until Sunday to be able to read your reviews. But I decided that, since I couldn't use the computer for 24 hours after midnight, I'd try to get this finished ASAP so that I could get it posted tonight. Having started it at 4:30 this morning because I couldn't sleep, it was actually pretty easy to get it finished up. And I'm glad I did…I really like how this chapter turned out, and I hope you do as well. We're just getting into the thick of the action now! See? I told you it would be amazing and exciting! Well, I shall get started on the next chapter ASAP…you know, once my self-imposed 24-hour computer boycott is over. :D

Love always, Cat.


	10. Rescues and, of course, Bram Stoker

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen.

AN: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and support. It feels amazing to know that you all appreciate my work so much. And as for the bet…well, it wasn't technically a bet, as there was really nothing to be won or lost…except pride, mind you…so it was more a mutual agreement between my father and I to an exercise in self-restraint. Anyway…I did manage to make it past midnight without going on the computer…about 20 minutes past midnight, mind you, but still. I'm proud of myself. Anyway, as promised, now that it's over, I shall get back to the story.

If there was one thing Leigh Francis…Elizabeth McKnight…whatever her name was…hated most in the world, it was not knowing. It was her driving need to know that had gotten her into this mess in the first place…that had disrupted her formerly semi-peaceful life. And not knowing what was happening to Kyle now was what was currently driving her to the brink of insanity.

Pacing back and forth, Leigh would spare a glance at her alarm clock every few seconds; it was all she really could do. She hated feeling like this…helpless and weak. She had always been empowered through her ability to fight, had never encountered a situation she couldn't work her way out of, and now…now she was trapped and helpless. Even her training couldn't help her now.

She gave a frustrated groan and flopped down on her bed, glaring up at the ceiling. She was almost to the point of tears, so intense was her frustration and her fear for Kyle's safety. She was terrified of what possible tortures he might be enduring at this very moment…and what tortures awaited her when the time came for _her_ ceremony.

Suddenly and without warning, there came shouting from the other side of her bedroom door. She jumped in surprise as the shouts cut through the heavy silence that had hung in the air for seemingly endless hours.

The shouts were followed immediately by several loud crashes and thuds, and just as Leigh got up from her bed to listen at the door and investigate the noise, two men came crashing through the door, splintering it into millions of tiny fragments. Leigh barely even had time to jump out of the way before the men landed on the floor with a crash; in the exact spot she'd been standing only moments before.

Leigh stood, shocked, as she watched the scene unfold. The two men fought furiously, growling and snarling, so that they barely even sounded human.

The fight lasted only moments, yet by the time it was over half her stuff was in pieces, strewn across the room.

Leigh shrieked in horror as, with a final snarl, one of the men managed to drive a round, smooth stick of engraved wood into the other's chest. The other immediately stopped moving, allowing Leigh to get a good look at his face. Leigh froze, her blood running icy through her veins, at the sight that met her eyes.

White eyes, glinting silver in the dim light flooding in from the hallway. Long, menacing incisors…more fang-like than anything…could be seen poking out from beneath the guard's upper lip. His face was pale…paler than death itself, far paler than any human being could ever possibly be…

Leigh's attention was drawn to the doorway when another person stepped into the room…or rather, another creature.

"Well…that was fun." The creature said, a sarcastic edge to his voice. He looked down at his clothes, brushing himself off, and stopped dead when he noticed the huge, gaping hole in the leg of his black pants. "Oh, great. Isn't that just perfect…"

The man who had stabbed the guard started getting slowly to his feet after seemingly taking a moment to recover.

"What is it now, Josef? Did you break a nail?" The man replied sarcastically. Leigh still couldn't get a good look at his face.

"Worse. The left leg of my pants is torn all to hell! These are expensive pants, man! I'm _so_ making you pay for these." The creature called Josef replied with a grin.

"Yeah, because God knows you can't afford another pair…" The man grumbled, finally managing to stand up straight. As Leigh finally saw his face, she took an instinctual step back, gasping.

It was Mick…but it _wasn't_ Mick. The face of the Private Investigator she'd hired…the man she'd trusted with her life…he was one of those creatures!

Mick looked at Leigh imploringly, begging her with his eyes to listen to him.

"Leigh, wait…" He said, taking a step closer to her. Leigh backed up, not taking her eyes off of him. In all of her years of schooling…all of her training…she'd never encountered anything as surreal as this…she didn't know how to even begin to go about handling the situation.

"No…stay back! Get away from me!" Leigh said, continuing to back away. "I trusted you! I trusted you and-"

"You might want to stop-" Josef began, but Mick immediately cut across him.

"Shut up Josef!"

"Alright fine, ignore me. I was only trying to-"

Josef was interrupted yet again, but this time it wasn't Mick that silenced him. Instead, there came a loud thud as Leigh tripped over a fallen table and landed painfully on her back. Josef couldn't help but laugh.

"You know, with all the fancy training these people supposedly gave you, you'd think they would have covered basic co-ordination." He chuckled.

"Josef, shut up or wait outside. You're not helping matters." Mick said angrily. Josef just continued to chuckle to himself as he took a step into the room, looking around.

"Wh…What are you?" Leigh asked fearfully, struggling to scramble to her feet.

"I'm…uh…well you see…" Mick said, his features reverting to their human form right before Leigh's eyes. He gave Josef a pleading look.

Leigh allowed her gaze to flicker momentarily over to the creature named Josef, and was startled to see that he looked…well, like your everyday average Joe. There was no indication that, only moments before, the man had been a monster. If Leigh hadn't seen it for herself, _she_ wouldn't even have believed it.

"Oh, no, don't look at me, Mick…_you're_ the one that has the experience in this department. After all, you _did_ let Blondilocks into the loop. Not that I'm questioning her motives or anything," He said hastily as Mick glared at him, "she's more than proven her loyalty. And besides, it's good to have someone who works in the news industry…helps to deflect publicity."

Mick sighed, shook his head, and turned back to Leigh to face the matter at hand. Leigh was staring at him, terrified, waiting for his answer. Mick sighed and made his decision. Considering what she'd seen, it was probably best he dive right into it like he had with Beth.

"I'm a vampire."

There was absolute silence in the room. Mick and Josef watched closely for Leigh's reaction, hoping for the best. Her face was blank, but they could see her inner turmoil reflected in her eyes. It wasn't exactly as though she had the luxury of disbelief at the moment…not after she'd seen them vamped out. Josef just hoped that she took it well…it'd be a pity to have to kill a kid for damage control. He'd do it in a heartbeat…well, if vamps _had_ a heartbeat, anyway…if it came to that, but he hoped to avoid that if possible. After all, Mick had put so much time and effort into trying to help the girl…it would be a pity to have to dispose of her after all that.

"Vampire…but…but vampires don't exist!" Leigh protested. Of course she believed it…she'd seen it for herself, but…she didn't _want_ to believe it. To believe that there actually _were_ things that go bump in the night was nearly too much to handle, considering everything that happened lately.

"We do exist, Leigh…and whether you believe it or not, you've spent nearly your whole life in their presence. Everyone in the Community…at least all of the adults…they're vampires, Leigh. All of them."

"No…" Leigh denied, backing into the wall. She glanced briefly at the unmoving guard on her bedroom floor, all too aware that there was no way she could possibly deny that kind of evidence. Then a thought struck her and she stared at Mick, a horrified expression on her face.

"But…if you're a vampire…and they're all vampires…then that means…you were working with them the whole time! You set me up! I trusted you…I thought you were trying to help me…but all along you were on their side!"

"Leigh, no, wait…" Mick pleaded with her. Heaving a sigh, Josef decided that now would be a good time to speak up.

"Look, kid," He began, "Just because we're all vampires, it doesn't mean we're all necessarily on the same side. And we're not all the evil, demonic creatures Stoker made us out to be. Most of us follow a code…a set of laws, if you will, that ensure our secrecy and the peaceful co-existence of humans and vamps alike. The vampires here, in this Community…we didn't even know this place existed until you stumbled into Mick's office. We don't all know each other…we don't all keep in touch…and we punish those who do wrong. I assure you, with all the power that I possess…and trust me, it's a considerable amount…they will be brought to justice and punished for their actions."

"Leigh, please…" Mick followed up Josef's speech, shooting his friend a grateful look before turning his attention back to the terrified girl. "You trusted me before you knew I'm a vampire, right? I'm the same person, Leigh, I'm still the investigator you hired to help you find out who you were…I'm still Mick St. John. I still want to help you, but if I'm going to do that I need you to trust me now. I'm not here to hurt you; I'm here to help you. We came here to break you out. Please…trust me."

Mick held out his hand to the girl, who'd sank down onto the floor and curled up into a ball. Leigh eyed his hand sceptically, deciding whether or not she should trust him. It wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter…she didn't have a lot of allies currently, but at the same time…what if it was some sort of trap? Some sick game the Community Leader was playing with her mind. All things considered, though, it wasn't like she had anything to lose…

Mick gave a sigh of relief as Leigh took his hand, and he helped her to her feet. He led her to the bed so she could sit down, as she was currently shaking uncontrollably. Sitting down beside her, Mick spoke softly.

"I know this is a lot to process all at once, especially considering everything that's happened to you lately-"

"You think?" She said sarcastically. Josef, who was still standing a few feet away, grinned at Mick.

"You know, Mick, I think I'm really starting to like her."

Mick burst into laughter as Josef chuckled quietly. Even Leigh couldn't help the smile that crept slowly across her face.

"Does that mean I won't be dinner?"

Mick and Josef quieted immediately, looking at her with shocked expressions. Just as Leigh was starting to worry that she might have said something wrong, the two vampires began to roar with laughter once more. After a few moments, Mick calmed down enough to respond.

"I think it's safe to say you're off the menu, Leigh."

Leigh looked at the two vampires for a moment before speaking again.

"What…I mean, how…" She paused, trying to organize her thoughts, "It's just…I have so many questions-"

"Look, I hate to cut the vamp/human bonding time here a little short, but we're kinda running short on time at the moment." Josef cut in, "So here's the Cliff's Notes version: Yes, we drink blood, No, we don't have to kill people to feed. Most of our blood comes from willing donors…except in the case of vamps like Mick, here, whose Catholic Conscience keeps them drinking bagged blood. Garlic, crosses, and Holy Water…they have no effect whatsoever on us. We sleep in freezers, not coffins, and we don't burst into flame if we go out into sunlight. I mean, it makes us feel sick, and too much can kill us, but other than that…as for stakes, well, as you can see from our friend here, a stake to the heart will paralyse a vampire. It does not, however, kill a vamp, contrary to popular belief. Yes, we are immortal, but there are three ways we can die. Fire, silver, and decapitation."

"Wait, why are you telling me how to kill vampires? What if I were to decide that I didn't overly like you and-"

"Listen, if there was any possible way to avoid this conversation, believe me; we wouldn't be having it. I'm just slightly uncomfortable about people knowing how to kill me, you know, should they suddenly feel the compulsion to do so. However, considering that we currently find ourselves preparing to go to war with a hundred or so vamps and need all the help we can get, I can't really see any other options. As for you cutting off our heads while we're not looking? Well, I'd certainly hope you wouldn't, considering we're all on the same side here…not to mention that we went to all this trouble to bust you out of here and all…but let me be the first to warn you that, should the thought even so much as enter your mind to kill us, I will personally put you in the tar pits before you even have time to blink."

Leigh just stared at Josef, while Mick glared angrily.

"I-I wasn't planning on it or anything…just so you know." Leigh stammered.

"Good…then I think we'll get along just fine." Josef said with a grin.

Mick shot Josef a look before getting up and leaving the room, leaving a terrified Leigh with a smug-looking Josef. Mick returned a moment later carrying a huge black duffel bag. Placing the bag on top of the bed, Mick opened it and retrieved several handguns, about fifteen wooden sticks similar to the one currently protruding from the frozen guard's chest, a long, sharp sword complete with sheath, and several grenades. He also retrieved a leather weapons belt like the ones both Josef and Mick currently wore.

"Here…this is for you." Mick said, tossing the belt to Leigh, "We figured we'd have to fight our way out of here, so we brought some extra weapons along. I assumed with all your training you'd have no trouble using this stuff."

Catching sight of all of the weaponry set out on her bed, Leigh's face lit up like a kid in a candy store. She picked up one of the guns on the bed, loaded the clip, and cocked it. Closing one eye, she aimed at a spot on the wall. Then, with a smile, she turned the gun over in her hands, examining it.

"Nice…9 millimetre, semi-automatic…" She ejected the clip and examined the bullets. "Not your standard ammo-"

"Silver bullets." Mick explained, "We're fighting vamps, we can't just use your standard bullet. Now, a single round won't kill a vamp…even a full clip won't kill them right away…but it'll weaken them so you can get close enough to finish the job."

Leigh nodded to him and re-loaded the gun in her hand. Repeating the process with the rest of the guns, she placed them all carefully on the comforter of her bed. Once they were all loaded, Leigh put on the weapons belt and filled all the empty spaces with stakes, grenades, and extra clips for the guns. She hurriedly donned her combat boots and shoved a gun in each boot, then put a few in the waistband of her pyjama pants, and one in her bra under her shirt. When she'd found a place for everything, she strapped the sheathed sword to her back.

"Alright, I'm ready." She said to the vampires with a grin. They nodded back to her and, as they headed toward the door, they were intercepted by a hysterical, growling black cat that darted out suddenly from his hiding place under the bed.

"Doom, enough! What are you doing, buddy?" Leigh asked, picking up the hissing creature. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what's gotten into him; he's not usually like this. I haven't seen him this upset since-"

"It's alright, we get that a lot…animals are naturally afraid of vampires." Mick explained, regarding Doom thoughtfully.

"Which would explain why he doesn't quite get along with my parents…" Leigh said. She placed the cat on top of the bed, gave him a kiss on the head and a scratch under the chin, and headed toward the door.

Leigh stopped suddenly, something just occurring to her. She'd been so overwhelmed by the arrival of the vampires that she was only just starting to process everything they'd told her.

"Wait."

Josef groaned.

"What is it now, kid?"

"There's just one last thing I need to know…"

"And that is?" Josef said with a sigh, "You know we _are _kind of running short on time here."

"It's quick, I promise." Leigh assured him, "It's just, it never occurred to me to ask at the time…I was a bit preoccupied with the idea that there were two real, live-"

"Well, not exactly _live_, but-"

"Vampires in the room." Leigh continued as though she hadn't just been interrupted, "Anyway…who the hell is Stoker?"

Mick and Josef just stared at her, speechless at the completely random question.

"What?" Leigh asked defensively, "Everything I know about vampires I learned from watching Underworld after I figured out the password for the channel-blocker on the T.V." She said, smiling at the fond memory, "My parents were _so _pissed…anyway, after that they changed the password. I never did figure out what the new one was…"

She looked at the two vampires who were just staring blankly at her. Finally, after a tense moment, Josef cracked a smile.

"I'll tell you what, kid." He said, "If we manage to get through this alive, I'll tell you who Stoker is."

He gave Leigh a smile and a pat on the arm before stepping through the empty doorway. Mick gestured for Leigh to go next, and he brought up the rear. He had a funny feeling that this was going to be an _extremely _long night.

AN: And there you have it. I'm actually quite pleased with myself, all things considered. I feel this chapter has the perfect balance of filler, plot-furthering devices, and some much-needed comic relief. It's going to get pretty intense for Mick and the gang from here, so I thought maybe I needed to throw in some comic relief while I could. Actually, truth be told, I didn't plan for this chapter to turn out this way. Well actually I did…just I pictured it with a little less snark and a little more plot-furthering actiony goodness. But…well, it's Josef's fault. He demanded to be heard, and he wouldn't let me rest until I'd written what _he_ considered to be a sufficient amount of snark. And you know how Josef always gets what he wants. And really, I _did_ owe it to the guy…I mean, 10 chapters and he hasn't really made much of an appearance up until now…(just a passing mention once in a while and a few snarky comments last chapter) Anyway…here you have it. I hope you like it, and I hope I held true to Josef's character for all you snark-loving Josef fans.

Love always, Cat.


	11. Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Bonfire

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen.

AN: My muse really has been very active lately…and she seems determined not to let me sleep until I finish this story. So…under the influence of several nights of insomnia, I'm writing this chapter. Enjoy!

Beth sat huddled in the corner across from Kyle, not taking her eyes off of him. Every once in a while she would see the ravenous, silver eyes of the terrified boy peeking out at her through a gap in his arms. After a long moment of staring at her, he would shut his eyes tightly again, bury his face deeper into his knees, and let out a whimper.

In spite of the fear-inducing mortal danger in which she currently found herself, Beth found she felt really bad for him. After all, it wasn't his fault that this had happened to him…he hadn't asked for any of this. He found himself alone and confused, betrayed by those he should have trusted most in the world, merely a victim of unfortunate circumstance. Even if he was a starving fledgling who would soon be forced by instinct to give in to the urge to drain her of her life's blood, he was still a victim.

As Beth sat, huddled, afraid that at any minute Kyle might give in to his primal urge to feed, she mentally took stock of her situation. She was locked in a room with a hungry fledgling after ignoring Mick's warnings that she needed to stay at home. Okay, fine, it wasn't one of her best qualities, but if she got out of this alive, she was determined that she would at least try to work on it. Okay, so, she was locked in a room with a hungry fledgling after ignoring Mick's warnings that she needed to stay home…and her phone had been taken from her upon her capture. So, not only did Mick think she was at home and therefore had no reason to believe that she could potentially be in any kind of danger, but she had no way to get in touch with him to inform him of her current whereabouts and situation and seek help. Okay, not good. Really not good.

After what seemed like an eternity of trying to puzzle her way out of her current situation while (in a few more minutes, quite literally) worrying about the hungry fledgling breathing down her neck, Beth realized that she pretty much found herself faced with only two options. To her great dismay, neither one of them seemed like very promising prospects.

In one scenario, she could stay huddled in her corner, waiting and praying that Mick would find her in time to keep Kyle from draining her. The problem with that scenario was that it could take time for Mick to figure out where she and Kyle were and rescue them. Unfortunately, that was time she most likely didn't have, and the most likely outcome would be Kyle draining her.

Her second option was only slightly more promising. She could approach the boy and offer some of her blood before he reached the point of desperation where he needed to drain her. The idea was that, by giving him as much as she could afford for him to take without killing her, she could buy herself a little more time for Mick to find her before he would need more. The only (very realistic) problem with this plan was that Kyle was a fledgling and, if he started drinking, she might not be able to stop him in time from killing her.

Weighing the two options, Beth decided that the second option gave her at least a fraction more of a chance at living than the first. Terrified, her heart beating fast, she got to her feet and crept cautiously over to the corner Kyle was currently huddled in. All she could do now was pray that she could make him stop before he drained her.

"K-Kyle?" She said softly, almost timidly, cursing herself for her current inability to keep the fear from creeping into her voice. Not that it would have fooled Kyle anyway; especially being a fledgling, Kyle's senses would be attuned to her body's signals and betray her fear.

Kyle looked up at her with a horrified look on his face.

"W-What are you doing? You shouldn't be near me…I'm not safe."

"Kyle…" Beth said, crouching down beside the boy. She saw the hungry look in his eyes…watched his gaze switch from her eyes to a spot on her neck where her jugular vein was.

"Kyle, I want to help you." Beth said softly, rolling up the sleeve of her shirt and exposing her pale wrist. The boy's eyes immediately settled on her wrist. "I was just thinking…m-maybe I could give you some of my blood…you know, enough to at least lessen the hunger…that-that way we both get what we want…you get the blood you need and I…I get to live a little longer. Here…"

Beth offered her wrist to the boy, who gave her no indication that he'd even heard what she'd said. Not exactly a good sign, she couldn't help but think…

The fledgling's hands wrapped around the wrist, and he began to slowly raise it to his mouth…

Before she even knew what was happening, Beth found herself being pushed away from Kyle, the force of his weakened shove propelling her halfway across the room.

"NO!" He raved, looking at her with terrified, angered eyes, "I can't…I won't do it! I won't be the monster they want me to be!"

He began to sob, burying his face once more in his knees, wrapping his arms around his head so that only the mop of jet-black hair atop his head was visible.

Beth got up off the floor, sore from where she'd landed on the concrete. _That_ was going to hurt tomorrow…that is, if there even was a tomorrow for her…

She got up and approached Kyle once more, limping slightly having twisted her ankle.

"Kyle…" She tried again, reaching out to stroke his hair.

"No, get AWAY FROM ME!" Kyle shouted, taking a swing at Beth, who ran back to her corner across the room and huddled there once more.

"Please…I don't want to hurt you…" Kyle said, tears streaming from his eyes, "Just let me be…don't come anywhere near me. The temptation is just too great."

Beth sat silently, huddled in her corner and shaking uncontrollably. All she could do now was pray to God that Mick found her in time.

MLMLMLMLML

Mick, Josef, and Leigh were ducked behind a house, watching as a hundred or so vampires in black robes filed into the streets, coming out of a small building resembling a castle that stood at the top of the hill.

"This is bad…really bad." Mick commented, ducking back behind the house after taking a glance around the corner.

"What? Why? What's happening?" Leigh asked worriedly, clearly thinking of Kyle's welfare.

"They're all coming out of the building." Mick told them in a hushed voice, "A hundred of them at least-"

"A hundred and five." Leigh corrected, "There are a hundred and five adult members in the Community."

"How are we going to take on a hundred and five vamps at once?" Josef asked disbelievingly."

"We're gonna have to figure that out soon…" Mick said, "Because there's a bunch of them coming our way."

Leigh, Mick, and Josef all tensed, neither of them really prepared for taking on those kinds of numbers at the same time.

"Come on, let's keep moving." Leigh said. Josef and Mick looked at her questioningly.

"Listen…sooner or later we're gonna be noticed." She hissed, "We need to keep moving while we figure out a plan."

"She's right," Josef said, cutting Mick off before he had the opportunity to protest, "You know as well as I do that as soon as those vamps get anywhere near us, they'll swarm us. Not even _we_ can take on that many vamps at once, let alone Leigh-"

"I can more than hold my own!" Leigh protested.

"Not against a hundred vamps."

"A hundred and five!"

"Whatever!"

"Children!" Mick hissed, getting their attention. Both Josef and Leigh turned to look at him.

"We're leaving. Now. Remember?" He said. Leigh and Josef only nodded. As they crept around the back of the house, Leigh took the lead, gesturing for Mick and Josef to follow her.

As they crept off into the shadowy darkness, none of them noticed the hooded figure that peered after them around the corner…

MLMLMLMLML

"Sir?" A hooded figure asked timidly, approaching the Leader's chair in the middle of the now-empty chamber. The figure had watched as the last of the robed Community members had left the Chamber, then seized the opportunity to approach.

"The Ceremony is done, Roger. You may remove your robes." The Leader said, a barely audible tone of amusement in his voice.

"Yes sir." Roger said with a nod, pulling his robes over his head to reveal his jeans and black, long-sleeve turtleneck shirt.

"Now, my son, what is it?"

"I received word near the end of the Ceremony from one of the guards posted outside the building…sir, they informed me that the guards at the Francis house weren't responding when contacted by radio. When the Security Command Centre sent out men to check it out, they found Jason Kent dead…beheaded, sir. And as for Thomas Moore…he was found staked."

"When did this happen?! _How_ did it happen?" The Leader raged, rising from his seat.

"We don't have an exact timeline, sir," Roger responded immediately, not sounding at all intimidated by the Leader's rage. "But we _do_ know that they struck while the Ceremony was in progress. Kent and Moore were the only two guards on duty at the time of the attack. When they removed the stake, Moore said that he and Kent were ambushed by two vamps…they came in and took Leigh out."

The Leader stared at Roger for a moment before sinking back into his chair with a sigh.

"Roger…my son, my fledgling…you need to leave-" He began, but he was soon interrupted.

"Sir, with all due respect…I can't go. I was waiting for-"

"Cayleigh, yes, I know." The Leader cut across him, sounding impatient, "But it's all too clear that Leigh has chosen her side; she's become a danger to all of us, to the new world we're trying to create. Those pitiful excuses for vampires working with her don't understand that _we_ are the dominant species and that, as such, it is our destiny to have dominion over the human animals."

"But maybe if we just-"

"She has been corrupted, Roger! Your infatuation with her aside, you must realize that she is of no further use to us."

"Yes, sir." Roger responded, looking at the floor.

"Now…you _will _leave the Community immediately. I will contact the nearest Community affiliate and inform them of our current danger. I will then make arrangements to have you transported to a safer location. You cannot stay here…I fear it is about to become extremely dangerous here."

"Sir…there are only two of them. Three, counting Leigh. There's no possible way they can-" Roger started.

"If there's one thing I've learned in my three millennia of life, dear boy, it is that you _never_ underestimate the power of an enemy, no matter what their size. There are three _that we know of_," the Leader stressed, "but we have no idea how many others lay in wait…who they might have Contacted outside of the Community. I cannot risk the destruction of my dream, not now that it is so close to being realized."

"I understand, Sir." Roger said, with a dutiful bow to his sire, "I'll go prepare to leave."

"Farewell for now, my son." The Leader said, watching the boy leave the chamber. As soon as his fledgling had gone, he began making preparations for Roger's evacuation, and for the battle he foresaw in the near future.

MLMLMLMLML

Mick, Josef, and Leigh sat in the kitchen of an empty house on the edge of the Community, near the building the Community members had vacated earlier.

"So what's the plan?" Josef asked, pacing back and forth across the large room.

Leigh sat on the table, checking for the third time to make sure all her weapons were loaded and ready for use. She looked to Mick, who looked blankly back at them. Josef stared at Mick before bursting into a fit of laughter.

"You really have no idea what we're gonna do now, are you? You dragged me all the way out here tonight, saying that we needed to stop all this, and you had no idea how you were going to do it?"

"I was kinda playing it by ear," Mick retorted angrily. He was already frustrated by the fact that he had no idea what their next move was going to be, and here Josef was just adding insult to injury, "because, you know, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect going into it."

"Well isn't that just great." Josef said, knocking the mug of coffee Leigh was drinking off the table and into the wall, "And here I thought we were actually here to accomplish something."

"Well if I'm so damn incompetent, why don't _you_ come up with something?" Mick retorted.

"Because, Mick, we all know that that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to watch your back…I'm like the cheerleader of this operation. I leave the heavy lifting to the actual players and wave my little pom-poms in the air until you need me to crack some skulls."

"Well then stop breaking my balls and let me get back to doing something useful." Mick practically growled, before walking through the archway of the kitchen that led into the dining room.

"What about you?" Josef asked, turning to Leigh, who was currently making another mug of coffee without bothering to clean up the remnants of the one Josef had tossed in his frustration. "Don't you have special training in this particular area?"

"I'm kinda stumped at the moment, personally." Leigh said, running a hand through her hair.

"Great…just great…" Josef began to mumble loudly to himself, "I could be home right now, enjoying the company of a couple of gorgeous, brunette freshies, and instead I'm here…preparing to wage war on a Community of a hundred-"

"A hundred and five." Leigh corrected.

"Whatever…" grumbled Josef, before continuing on with his rant, "vampires I had no idea even existed until a few weeks ago that are plotting some type of mass destruction and using kidnapped children in their evil plot, blindly following some special-forces trained teenager…and on top of it all, we don't even have a plan!"

"I still don't see you contributing anything useful!" Mick called in from the other room. Leigh marvelled for a moment at the extremely sensitive auditory perception of vampires before returning to the task at hand.

"Wait…that's it! I've got it!" Leigh cried, an idea suddenly striking her. "I've got our plan!"

"Took you long enough…" Josef grumbled, "I mean, with all the special training you've got-"

"Shut up Josef." Mick said, striding into the kitchen and looking particularly alert.

"I was just saying, -"

"One more word, Josef, and I swear to God I'll stake you myself!" Mick said. Josef was silenced by the look on his friend's face, knowing full well that Mick had reached the point where he meant every word he said.

"Okay, Leigh, so…what's the plan?" Mick asked eagerly.

"First of all, I need to know…do you have any vampire contacts that might be able to help us out?"

"Yeah, I know a few…why?" Mick responded.

"Because we're going to need all the help we can get." Leigh responded resolutely. "We can't take out this many vampires alone…we need to even the score a little bit."

"I can try some of my contacts." Josef interrupted, "Call in some favours. I should be able to pull together something."

"Good." Leigh said, "You call in some backup, and while we're waiting for them to arrive, we'll implement our own battle strategies."

"And would you care to share with the rest of the class what these strategies are?" Josef asked.

"If there's one thing I've learned through all my years of intense war studies," Leigh grinned, "it's that the first thing you do in battle is take out the top of the chain of command. It cripples the rest of the command structure and creates total and utter chaos. We take out the Leader, and the Community won't know what hit them. We attack while they're confused and disorganized, because it's then that they're at their weakest."

"So, just for clarification, you're proposing we march into that building over there and take out the Leader, right?" Josef asked.

"Right." Leigh responded.

"Ah." Josef said with a nod, "And has it occurred to you that such an action is nothing short of suicide? Well I dunno about you, but I'm a little too vain to just march in there and get myself killed."

"Yes, I agree, there are risks." Leigh said imploringly, begging the vampires to see her logic, "But it's the only way we can win this. As long as the Leader's around to keep everything in order, they're too strong. That's why I propose we attack now…as soon as humanly-"

"Don't forget vamply," Josef cut in.

"Possible." Leigh finished, glaring at the older vampire, "If we attack now, we've got the element of surprise on our side. He'll never see it coming."

Mick took a minute to think over the plan. Sure, it wasn't ironclad, but right now, it was the best one they had…well, technically the _only_ one they had…so they had no choice but to go with it.

"Alright." He said with a nod, shifting his gaze between Leigh and Josef, "I'll call my contacts…Josef, you start trying to get a hold of yours…and as soon as we've got enough help, we'll launch our attack on the Leader."

There were nods all around and the vamps set off to their work while Leigh began sharpening a bunch of wooden bars broken off the ornate wooden banister of the staircase heading to the second floor into stakes.

Twenty minutes and several phone calls later, Mick and Josef had collectively managed to assemble a militia of twenty cleaners, eighteen of Josef's personal employees, Guillermo Gasol, and Mick's techie Logan Griffen. It wasn't much, but it was hopefully enough to defeat an army twice the size of theirs.

Once they were sure that the others would arrive shortly, Mick, Josef, and Leigh gathered their weaponry and began making their way to the building the Community had recently vacated in search of the Leader.

They stopped momentarily just outside the building to ensure that all of their weapons were easily accessible and ready for use. As they headed for the door, ready to go inside, Josef spoke.

"You know, I've got the strangest feeling like we're jumping out of the frying pan and into the bonfire…and bonfires are never good where vamps are concerned."

TBC…

AN: Hey all, sorry it took so long to post…I've been busy lately. Anyway, I haven't really got much to say right now, as it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm half asleep as it is, so I'll just say that I hope you enjoy this and I'm looking forward to reading your reviews. Again, forgive me if my interpretation of Josef was just a little off…I'm REALLY tired. So yeah, here it is…night all!

Love always, Cat.


	12. Through the Door

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen.

AN: Well, truth be told, I'm dying to finish off this story ASAP. You know, one less thing for me to have to attempt to schedule into my day amidst the utter chaos associated with the much-dreaded return of school. Anyway, you'll be happy to know that, though I'm trying to finish up this story, I already have ideas in the works for a sequel…heh. Yeah, I really _am_ one of those sad people desperately in need of a life that spend all their free time coming up with story ideas and whatnot. But hey…at least you all benefit from my lack of a social life. Anyway, without further ado, on to the next chapter! (And let me just say right now…_this_ is where things start to get _really_ fun!)

They travelled in single file down the dark, narrow hallway of the old stone building. Mick had taken up his self-appointed post at the front of the line, followed closely by Leigh, and Josef brought up the rear. The tension in the air grew thicker as they silently crept deeper into the heart of the place. They were on edge as it was, unsure of what to expect they might come up against, and the sombre, deceptively quiet atmosphere did nothing to ease the tension.

About halfway down the hallway, the group encountered three uniformed guards on patrol. After a short but furious battle, Mick, Josef, and Leigh managed to take out the guards. Mick had then sent Josef and Leigh on their way, saying that he would catch up after he'd searched the staked/dead guards for anything that might be of use later on.

For five seemingly eternal minutes, they crept in near silence. Finally, they reached the end of the hallway. In front of them stood a huge, heavy, solid oak door.

Quickly approaching the door, Leigh immediately raised her hand to open it…

…And before she'd even had time to make contact with the door, she found her wrist caught in Josef's firm hold.

"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed.

"What we came here to do." Leigh responded, attempting to pull her wrist away but finding herself unable to. "Find the Leader and kill him."

"Yeah, well, you need to have a plan first."

"That is my plan." Leigh responded resolutely.

"I'm sorry, but do you happen to have a death wish?" Josef retorted, his voice an equally intimidating mixture of anger, disbelief, and malicious exasperation, "You can't just barge in there, guns blazing, and just hope for the best. I'd think you of all people would know better than that!"

"Look, I need to get in there and find out what the hell they've done to Kyle!" Leigh practically growled at Josef, completely unfazed by his tone. "Besides, we'll have the element of surprise on our side!"

"Your boyfriend isn't the only person that matters right now." Josef spat at Leigh through gritted teeth, frustrated not only by the current situation, but by Leigh's inability to think past her own selfish thoughts. He paused before continuing.

"Look, I get that you're seventeen years old and, for the most part, me-deep in thought. But if you'd take a second to look at the big picture, you'd see that barging in there is a stupid idea. You have no idea what's behind that door. For all we know, they're standing there just waiting to pick us off. We'll most likely be outnumbered and outgunned, not to mention disorganized and all over the place. We need to have a solid plan of attack before we go picking a fight. This isn't just about you anymore, Leigh, and this isn't one of your little war games-"

"Simulations." Leigh retorted.

"Whatever." Josef spat back, "The point is, this is not consequence-free anymore. The futures of all the kids here, more importantly the future of the entire vampire community, depends on what we do now. We need to take careful, decisive action. We can't afford to be reckless."

Leigh just glared at Josef for a moment, considering his words. Finally, after a long, silent pause, she shook her head.

"We've wasted enough time already…time we could have spent rescuing Kyle. I need to know what they've done to him…I need to know that he's okay."

With that, she made a swipe at the door with her free hand. Instinctively, Josef pulled her away from the door and pushed her away with such force that she was thrown into the wall of the hallway. She jumped to her feet immediately, reaching instinctively for one of her silver-ammo guns; her years of training in self-defence taking control.

Before either even knew what was happening, Josef had Leigh pinned to the wall with his hand on her throat, his eyes an icy silver and his fangs protruding menacingly from his mouth. Leigh had the barrel of the gun pointed straight at Josef's left temple, the cold metal barrel actually making contact with Josef's skin.

Breathing heavily, the two just stared at each other, unmoving, sure that if they were to move, they would end up dead. The tension in the air was so thick it was almost suffocating. Neither one was willing to back down, but in the interest of self-preservation, neither one dared to make a move.

They heard Mick coming long before he saw them, but even still, they stayed like that. Rounding the corner, Mick caught sight of Josef vamped out and holding Leigh up against the wall, not to mention the gun in Leigh's hand that was pressed to Josef's temple.

"JOSEF, NO! LET HER GO!" He yelled, rushing forward and grabbing onto the hand Josef currently had wrapped around Leigh's throat.

"She pulled a gun on me!" Josef argued, not breaking eye contact with Leigh.

"He threw me into the wall!" Leigh protested, glaring back at Josef just as furiously.

"She tried to open the door!"

"He told me I was 'me-deep' in thought!"

"She is! She's so concerned about rescuing her boyfriend she doesn't care if she gets us all killed!"

"CHILDREN! ENOUGH!" Mick hissed, looking between the two exasperatedly. Keeping a firm hold on Josef's arm, he reached over and gently took hold of the barrel of Leigh's gun.

"Here's what's going to happen." Mick said, taking on an authoritative tone. "When I count to three, Josef, you're going to let go of Leigh…and Leigh." Mick said, ignoring Josef's attempt at interrupting, "You're going to lower the gun. Understand?"

Josef and Leigh, still glaring at each other, not seeing any other way out of their current situation, grudgingly nodded. When Mick counted to three, Josef and Leigh both quickly lowered their arms, but continued to glare at each other.

"Now, if we can put aside our differences for a second here, we need to come up with a plan." Mick stated.

"We have a plan." Leigh said resolutely, "We bust through that door and kill the Leader, along with anyone else that gets in our way."

"Great plan!" Josef said sarcastically, "Because hey, it's not like we're probably outnumbered, outgunned, and going to get ourselves killed in the process. Seriously, Mick. We need an _actual_ plan. Preferably one that's a little less crazy and doesn't involve getting ourselves killed the moment we enter the room. We might as well just stick a silver bullet in our heads if we let pip-squeak here call the shots."

"Sure, because it's not like I have military training or anything-" Leigh began, before Josef cut across her.

"Look, pip-squeak. You could be the best eighteen-year-old military strategist on the face of the earth for all I care, but the simple fact is, your eighteen years of expert training can't hold a candle to four hundred years of practise and experience."

There was another silence as Josef and Leigh glared at each other, neither one backing down from their opinions. Mick took the opportunity to assess their situation, all the while keeping a watchful eye on them to ensure that nobody tried to kill anyone else again.

After much careful scrutiny and examination of the situation from all angles, Mick was, against his better judgement, forced to conclude that Leigh had a point. Their best chance of success at the moment was to attack and hope that they had the element of surprise on their side. The more time they wasted attempting to come up with a plan, the more time they gave the Leader to get his soldiers organized. Their only chance of winning this battle was to strike before the other side had the opportunity get their bearings.

"Right now, we've only got two options." Mick began slowly, quietly, attempting to convey the fact that he wasn't necessarily in agreement with what he was saying, but felt that there was no other way to go about waging war on the Leader, "We can either wait for reinforcements to come and give them time to figure out what's happening and organize a counter strike against us, or we can attack now before they've had a chance to organize themselves and have the tactical advantage of surprise, though we run the risk of being outnumbered."

Josef looked at Mick incredulously.

"You're not actually considering going in there right now, are you?" He asked sceptically, "You're _actually_ considering taking tactical advice from a teenager?"

"It's not like we have much of a choice in the matter, Josef." Mick growled.

"I'm sorry, but am I the only one that hasn't gone completely insane here?"

"Look, Josef." Mick spat, anger flaring up in him due to the awkward predicament in which he currently found himself, "I don't like this any more than you do, but right now these are the cards we've been dealt. We need to move quickly, because if we strike now, fast and hard, while they're still in a state of chaos, we've got a better chance of winning this war. Leigh knows how this place works better than either of us, and that gives us an advantage. She'd got an idea of how they'll attack, their strengths, their weaknesses, and their defences. It's important to take her judgement into consideration at this point."

"She's young and stupid and her judgement is clouded!" Josef retorted. "It's too much of a risk!"

"Hey!" Leigh piped up.

Mick sighed and shook his head.

"I know, Josef." Mick said quietly, "I know it's a big leap of faith. But damnit, we can't afford to wait for reinforcements. And even with help coming, we're still outnumbered. The simple fact is, the odds are stacked against us every which way we look at it. Now if you want out of this now, fine, I won't blame you if you back out. But this is the best course of action...and I really need you here with me."

Josef stared silently at Mick, clearly torn between the truth in Mick's words and the insanity of their proposed plan.

"Josef…friend…brother," Mick said after a long silence, "I don't ask you for a lot, but I'm asking this of you. Please…I need your help."

Josef just stared at Mick for a moment, and Mick was almost afraid that Josef was going to turn around and walk away. After a tense moment, Josef's serious expression gave way to a small, rueful smile. He shook his head and chuckled quietly.

"Just when I thought you couldn't possibly say anything more stupid." He said, in response to Mick's puzzled and somewhat fearful expression. Mick looked even more confused by Josef's words, and Josef continued, "50 years, Mick. You'd think that, after all that time, you might know me better than that." He shook his head again, "Look, Mick. I may not like this plan…I may even think it's suicidal…but there's no way I'm gonna turn tail and let you go in there with nobody to watch your back. I'm with you, buddy…all the way. I'd follow you into hell itself, if it came down to it. I'm not going anywhere."

Josef put his hand on Mick's shoulder and the two men stood looking at each other for several moments. Finally, Mick cracked a smile and quickly pulled Josef into a tight embrace. Josef, for his part, looked uncomfortable, but he returned Mick's embrace nonetheless. When Mick finally let go of him, Josef pulled out one of his guns, cocked it, and gave Mick a nod.

Mick cast a quick glance at Leigh, who had silently watched the scene unfold and gave a nod, satisfied with the fact that they were going to launch an immediate strike. Mick gave her a quick nod and, pulling out his own weapons, reached for the door handle and pulled open the heavy door.

MLMLMLML

It didn't take vamp senses to figure out that Kyle was fast approaching the point where he would soon have no choice but to drain Beth, unable to forego his instincts and stop himself from killing her. He was salivating excessively, his skin had taken on a pale, sickly jaundiced hue, and the whites of his eyes were a similar shade of sickly yellow.

Sitting huddled in a corner of the tiny room, as far away as humanly possible from the starving fledgling vampire, she couldn't help but reflect on the stupidity of her actions. How many times had she pulled a similar stunt and ultimately ended up in a life-or-death situation? How often had Mick told her that, for her own safety, she should stay out of the proceedings? How often had he had to pull her ass out of the fire because she'd bee too stubborn to listen? Every time she got into such a situation, Mick had always gotten there in the nick of time to save her. This time, however, was different. Mick had no clue that she was even there, let alone in serious mortal danger. He had no idea that in a matter of moments the fledgling vampire sitting across from her would drain her of her life's blood, killing her. The chances that he would come gallivanting in there and rescue her at this point were approximately zero. And it was all her fault.

She cringed to think of what would happen once he discovered that she was dead. He would immediately blame himself for her actions…would rationalize it as being his fault because he had failed to protect her…even though it would be her fault for going against his wishes, her fault for getting herself caught and thrown in with the fledgling vampire. He would spend eternity isolating himself from the rest of the world, wallowing in his self-loathing and despair at having failed her. Or worse…he would be unable to live with himself and decide to end it. It brought tears to Beth's eyes to consider a world without Mick St. John…even if she wouldn't be around to benefit from his presence.

She was brought immediately back to her present surroundings by a low growl emanating from Kyle's corner of the room. He was watching her with predatory eyes, and she felt the fear rise up in her. Unable to do anything else, Beth did the only thing she could do…she silently began to pray.

MLMLMLMLML

Mick, Josef, and Leigh burst through the door, guns drawn, into the huge chamber. They stopped short upon realizing that they had come face-to-face with several armed Community guards.

"So nice of you to finally join us…we've been expecting you for some time now." The Leader said, coldly and cruelly.

TBC…

AN: Well, I have several reasons for stopping this here, aside, of course, from my evil cliffie addiction. Mainly, it's because I want to get this update posted ASAP, considering my recent lack of updates due to school (mainly the stress of the International Baccalaureate program) and whatnot. I apologize profusely for taking such a long time to update. You see, not only have I been hampered down with schoolwork half the time, but I'm happy to report to you all that I've been doing some writing of my own. That, coupled with extracurricular activities and the general chaos of daily life, has made it…well, nearly impossible to update as often as I'd like to. Long story short, I'll try to update a little more often if possible, although I'm trying to work as much as possible on some of my original writing currently in the works.

Love always, Cat.


	13. Of Revenge and Epic Showdowns

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Moonlight. If I did, there would be many more episodes to come, Beth _might_ be a vampire, and most importantly…I'd be a Jason Alexandwich. But since I don't, and CBS decided to be assholes, it doesn't look very likely that any of that's going to happen.

AN: As always, I'd like to apologise sincerely for my horribly slow updating. Being an IB (International Baccalaureate, for those unfamiliar with it) student, I've got an insane workload on a regular basis. Which is why I've only been working on this story recently (updating one story on my tight schedule is hard enough…updating three is damn near impossible). So at the moment, my plan is to get this story finished, work on my others, and possibly start some new ones at a later date. Anyway...on with the story!

The Leader stared coldly at Leigh, who stared back with an expression of equally chilling ferocity. Mick and Josef looked cautiously around them, silently counting and sizing up the guards. Twelve…a few barely past fledgling status, but the rest were much older. Some as old as eight centuries.

"Well, I hate to say I told you so-" Josef said sarcastically, aiming his gun at one of the guards, his eyes bleeding white and his fangs extending.

"Then don't." Mick interrupted, in no mood for Josef's trademark sarcasm. Right now, he was too busy berating himself for his own stupidity. He should have seen this coming…they'd known from the start that there were most likely vampires on the other side of that door. And what had they done? They'd had a particularly loud and lengthy discussion on the other side, practically painting a neon sign for the vampires awaiting them. He should have known better. It wasn't entirely his fault, though…he'd been a little distracted by Josef and Leigh's attempt on each other's lives…not to mention that smell; that familiar, delicate scent that seemed to fog up his brain and turn his perception upside down. Wait, that smell…

Mick, suddenly fully aware of the scent that had been lingering in the back of his mind for several minutes now, inhaled deeply, all the while keeping the machete in his hand poised to swing. The scent was somewhat fresh, maybe two to three hours old at the most. Vanilla and lilacs…

"Beth." Mick said, horrified, finally recognizing that disorienting scent that had plagued his peripheries since he'd entered the building. He'd had his mind on other, more important matters at the time…had thought that she was at home, safe and sound in her apartment. He hadn't thought to pay it any attention…

"Beth? What…?"

Josef, confused, inhaled deeply. He, too, recognized the all-too-familiar scent of the somewhat annoying, ambitious blonde reporter whom he grudgingly, though of course he would never openly admit it, considered a friend.

"Good god, Blondilocks. What have you gotten yourself into now?" He muttered under his breath, feeling a gnawing sensation pricking at his insides. If these bastards had so much as harmed a hair on the head of his best friend's favourite human, he would ensure that they suffered untold amounts of pain while he slowly dissected them.

Meanwhile, Leigh was continuing her silent staring contest with the Leader, oblivious to the numerous gun barrels aimed at her. The Leader's lips, already curled into a cruel, malicious smile, parted to emit a loud, cold bark of laughter as he contemplated the gun in her hand, aimed, unmoving, at his head. Leigh was about to break the tense silence when Mick's voice, infused with rage, permeated the air.

"Where is she? What have you done with her?" He asked sharply, furiously, eyes bleeding white, fangs distending. His body tensed angrily and his jaw clenched tightly.

Leigh barely even had time to turn and look at Mick, confused, before the Leader answered in his cold, heartless tone.

"Your human friend just so happened to arrive just in time for the festivities-"

"Festivities?! What 'festivities'?" Leigh asked sharply, interrupting the Leader. She immediately forgot about Mick as her stomach clenched in fear. "What have you done with Kyle?"

"-and so I merely found a place for her in the evening's proceedings." The Leader continued, as though he hadn't been interrupted. "After all, it would be in incredibly bad taste to let her leave without first inviting her to stay for dinner."

Mick howled with such rage that Leigh jumped in surprise. The Leader just laughed.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH KYLE?" Leigh roared, turning back to the Leader, not one to allow herself to be ignored, especially when her questions were being evaded with cryptic responses. The Leader stopped laughing and regarded her thoughtfully.

"You know, it's a pity," he said calmly, his voice soft and silky, "you would have made an excellent addition to the tribe."

"You still haven't told me what you've done with Kyle." Leigh growled at the Leader.

"I've brought him into the fold." The Leader said simply, with an indulgent smile.

"What do you mean, you-" Leigh began, then stopped mid-sentence as she realized what he was saying. "No…"

The Leader chuckled softly.

"NO!" Leigh shouted, the gun in her hand beginning to shake as she shook with anger.

"I've always admired that quality in you…your quick wit…" The Leader mused.

Then, suddenly, in an almost synchronized motion, Mick and Leigh, blinded by fury and propelled by rage, charged forward, Josef, rolling his eyes at their hot-headed display, hot on their heels. All three were quickly encircled by guards.

"Leave the girl alive; do with the others what you will." The Leader told the guards sharply, "There's still a chance that perhaps we can change her mind."

The guards nodded and attacked in unison. The chaos that ensued was so loud, so violent, so furious that it would have been impossible for anyone outside the fray to be able to tell what was going on inside of it, much less those who were participants.

Mick and Josef lunged and ducked, growled and snarled, taking down one after the other. They tag-teamed the three oldest, all of them well over five hundred years old. Josef staked one viciously, paralysing him, while Mick finished the job with his machete. It took them mere minutes to finish those three, and after that they moved on to make separate kills.

While Mick and Josef dealt with the oldest of the vamps, Leigh was left to deal with the three youngest. All of them, less than a year old and clearly looking for an easy kill, swarmed Leigh at once. Without missing a beat, she shot one of them full of silver bullets, at least for the time being disabling him. When her gun ran out of ammo, she tossed it aside and pulled a stake out from the waistband of her pyjama pants and began thrusting wildly with it in the direction of the second vamp's heart. He dodged it quickly, giving Leigh a blow to the stomach that sent her flying into a turn-of-the-century wooden chair, breaking it to pieces. Then, in a nearly impossible motion, she leapt to her feet and lunged at him again, giving the third a roundhouse kick as the female tried to attack her from behind. Then, grabbing the second vamp by the front of his shirt, she plunged the stake quickly into his chest before he even had time to react. Leaving that vamp immobilized, she was left facing the third vamp, the female. The tall brunette, though she was in full vamp-mode, was easily recognizable to Leigh.

"Hey Vanessa, long time, no talk."

Vanessa just laughed and charged Leigh, who pulled out her machete and, in one swift motion, swung the blade over her head and brought it down onto Vanessa's neck, rending her head clean off her shoulders. Leigh watched triumphantly as the head rolled away.

"Now I remember why we don't talk."

Then, without warning, Leigh was attacked from behind by the vamp she'd shot full of silver bullets. The one she was sure had been disabled. He sank his fangs deep into her neck, drawing a choked shriek from her, and began drawing her blood with such ferocity and hunger that she could feel her limbs weakening by the second.

Fighting with every ounce of strength in her swiftly weakening body, every survival instinct within her telling her that she had to live, Leigh struggled against her assailant. Still, with all of the strength and training she'd garnered over the years, and despite his weakened condition, she was no match for the preternaturally strong vampire that gripped her tightly from behind.

Finally, all of her strength being sapped away, Leigh resigned herself to her fate. She couldn't help but think that she was doomed to die then and there. After all of the work she'd done…after all she'd fought and all she'd endured…she would never get a chance to see her parents…her _birth parents_…again. They would never know what had happened to her, never know that she'd been alive all that time. She'd been alive all this time and now she would finally die. And they would never know.

Leigh began to cry bitter, desperate tears as the faces of her birth parents flashed suddenly before her eyes. Oh, what she would give for the chance to see them again…to see them one more time before she died. To meet the parents she'd never known…

Suddenly, Leigh was startled out of her depressed, hopeless thoughts as the sound of blade meeting flesh suddenly sounded close to her ear. She stood stock-still, frozen, as she felt the sickly sensation of thick, hot blood pouring down her back. She heard the heavy thud of what sounded like a person hitting the ground, and momentarily she felt the sharp fangs pulled from her neck.

Leigh turned around quickly…a little too quickly, considering the amount of blood she'd lost to the vampire…and felt her knees buckle beneath her. She expected to feel her body hit hard against the ground, but was pleasantly surprised when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves quickly around her and caught her. She looked into the face of Mick, whose vampire visage was spattered with blood spray. The machete, still dripping with blood, hung loosely in his right hand.

"Leigh…are you okay?" Mick asked sounding frantic, worry entering his eyes.

"Yeah…I'm fine." Leigh replied weakly, offering a half-smile, feeling somewhat fatigued.

"Here…let me see your neck." Mick said, turning her head away from him in order to get a better look at her wounds. Leigh heard him give a worried sigh. "You're still losing quite a bit of blood, Leigh. I'm gonna have to seal the wound."

"How…?" The question had barely begun to leave her lips when she felt Mick's warm tongue slide across her neck. Leigh, startled, raised a hand to her wounds and filled with wondered astonishment as she felt her skin knit back together beneath her fingertips.

"How…?" Leigh began to ask again, but Mick cut her off before she could finish.

"Vampires have enzymes in their saliva that help to speed up the healing process." He gave her a lopsided grin. "It's part of our basic biology. So that our donors don't bleed to death on us."

"Wow...cool." Leigh said with a smile, too shocked and weakened to think of anything intelligent to say. Despite Mick's worried expression and his insistence that she should stay sitting down, she struggled unsteadily out of his arms and onto her shaky feet. She watched as Josef finished off the last of the older vamps, decapitating him with a single swift motion.

A split second of complete, unadulterated silence hung heavily in the air before the Leader's all-too-familiar cold, cruel laugh echoed across the dungeon-like chamber.

"Well, that was rather entertaining." He said with a grin as he clapped his hands sardonically. "Brings back memories. I haven't seen violence like that since the days of the Coliseums."

"Yeah, well, you're about to experience it firsthand." Josef said with a smirk, charging the Leader. The Leader laughed and stood up, casting off his robes and, immediately vamping out, charging to meet Josef.

Both of the snarling vampires met with equal ferocity in the middle of the room, but the Leader, being more than two and a half thousand years older than Josef, clearly beat out the younger vampire in strength. Again and again the Leader struck him, throwing him into walls, sending him flying through the air. Again and again, Josef jumped up and ferociously charged the Leader, though clearly he could not best the staggering power of the older vampire.

Mick stood by and watched the violent and furious battle, torn between the overwhelming urge to aid his oldest friend and the oath he took to protect the weakened young girl beside him. He could tell that the battle was beginning to take a toll on Josef; he was getting tired. There was no way he could beat the milennias-older vamp; at least, not on his own, anyway. But Mick also had a responsibility towards Leigh, and his conscience wouldn't let him abandon her to aid Josef.

And so, Mick stood watching helplessly, his desperation and frustration mounting obscenely as he was overwhelmed by his uselessness. Suddenly, Leigh spoke, rousing him from his conflicted thoughts.

"You need to go help him. He'll be killed if you don't do something fast."

"I-I can't, Leigh." Mick said, "I swore to protect you."

"I'll be fine." Leigh said quickly, almost desperately, "You're needed over there."

"You're a human." Mick responded, "Against an experienced vamp, particularly one as old as this guy is, you'd be helpless. Especially in the condition you're in."

"I'll be okay," Leigh repeated, "I can take care of myself. I'll stay out of harm's way. But you need to go help...he doesn't look like he's gonna last much longer."

Mick gave Leigh a long, serious look before glancing back at Josef. Leigh was right. Josef wouldn't last much longer without some serious intervention.

"Stay right here." Mick said, looking back into Leigh's eyes. "I mean it. Don't move. Understand?"

Leigh nodded. Mick gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement before he turned around and jumped into the fray, pulling a stake out from the weapons belt strapped to his body and allowing himself to change into the vampire. Mick launched himself at the Leader, attacking from behind while his foe was occupied with Josef. The Leader, however, was barely fazed by Mick's surprise attack. He turned around with lightning speed and viciously attacked Mick, catapulting him into a nearby wall while still managing to hold off Josef.

The furious confrontation continued, both Mick and Josef continually overpowered by the millenias-older Leader. Leigh watched with growing anxiety. Even both younger vampires against the single older one, it was obvious that they could never measure up in strength. She had to help them, there had to be some way...

Suddenly, she realized that her gun lay on the floor a short distance away from her, where she'd tossed it to the ground. Looking up, Leigh confirmed that the Leader was too focused on the vampires attacking him to be aware of her location. Without taking her eyes off of the duelling vampires, she silently crept across the floor to where her gun lay. In a single swift motion, Leigh grabbed the gun and with trained precision loaded it with a cartridge from her weapons belt. She glanced up as she cocked the gun. The Leader turned swiftly at the sound, and seeing her with the gun, laughed. He easily tossed Mick and Josef aside and rushed Leigh. Leigh raised the gun instantly, hoping to god that this would work.

A deafening bang permeated the air as a shot rang out. Then another. And another. She shot him in the head, in the neck, the chest, the stomach, the knee. She attacked every weak spot know to her. As she pulled the trigger again and again, the whole world seemed to slow down until time itself seemed to stop. It was only a matter of seconds until her entire clip was empty, and yet it felt like an eternity.

The bullets tore into the ancient vampire, one after another, and though they slowed him, he kept on coming nonetheless. Leigh was terrified. Her clip was empty...she didn't have time to change it, and even if she did, she wasn't sure it would be enough. The Leader finally reached her, ready to strike, and Leigh, terrified, curled herself up into a ball and raised her hands to shield herself. She shut her eyes tightly, expecting to feel the Leader sink his teeth into her flesh.

As she waited, however, she was surprised when the Leader's attack didn't come. Instead, she heard the sickening squelch of tearing flesh and a muffled, enraged cry. After several silent moments spent quaking in terror, Leigh was finally able to bring herself to open her eyes.

She was met with the sight of Josef, panting, standing over the limp form of the Leader. The ancient vampire was lying face-down on the floor, a long splinter of mahogany sticking out of his back. Apparently, Josef had been tossed over by the broken chair and had grabbed the nearest piece of wood.

Leigh was stunned. It was done. It was over. Well, not exactly.

Josef walked swiftly over to where his machete lay discarded on the ground. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands, regarding it thoughtfully for a moment, before he strode back over to where the Leader lay paralyzed. Mick turned the Leader over as Josef approached, making sure the stake was pushed deeper into the vampire's chest as he dropped him unceremoniously back on the gound facing upward. The Leader let out a low growl.

Without so much as a word, Josef slowly raised his sword, staring down with an expression of pure disgust and fury at the vampire that had arbitrarily spawned countless fledglings and had threatened the secrecy of the whole vampire race. He was about to bring the sword down onto the neck of the Leader when Leigh's voice stopped him.

"Wait." She said, standing on unsteady legs and taking a step forward.

"Wait?" Josef asked, unbelievingly, "Wait? After everything we've gone through tonight, after this jackass nearly upset the balance of the vampire existence, after _he tried to kill us_, you want me to _let him live_?"

"No," Leigh said, "I don't want you to let him live. I'm not disputing the fact that he's dangerous, or even that he deserves to die. But _I_ want to be the one to do it. I deserve that much, after all that bastard and his cult mentality have put me through."

She walked forward slowly, hand extended, while Josef stared at her with an impassive face. Mick regarded the situation, unsure himself as to how all of this would play out. He knew that, no matter what, Josef wanted to be the one to kill the Leader, and that there was no way in hell that Josef would relinquish the honour to a teenage human. Especially since taking out a vamp of the Leader's age would earn Josef the respect of the entire vampire community worldwide.

After a tense moment, Mick was shocked beyond all measure when Josef gave Leigh a silent nod and extended the handle of the machete to her, his face remaining stoic the whole time. Leigh took it silently and, taking Josef's place as he silently stepped aside, she raised it high in the air, staring down at the cause of her living hell.

"Leigh." The Leader whispered, eyes wide and terrified. It was a startling contrast to his former confidence and fearlessness. "Leigh, I have answers for you. The answers you seek. Don't you want to know why I chose you...what plans I had in mind for you? You're special, Leigh."

Leigh's eyes widened and her grip on the machete slackened. She did want to know...she wanted desperately to comprehend why she of all people had been kidnapped and brought here. What he'd groomed her for all these years. She was dying to know what made her so special, what qualities were in her that she had to be taken from her family as a child, taken from her life, from everything she'd come to know...

Her eyes narrowed and her grip tightened on the handle once more as fury boiled up from within the depths of her very soul, so that fire instead of blood flowed through her veins. A renewed strength filled her body.

"I think I can live without them." She said, and without so much as a pause, she brought the blade down upon his neck, severing his head from his body and sending a spray of arterial blood spatter in all directions, dotting her face with crimson droplets and spraying her shirt with spindly spurts. She felt a sense of relief flow through her, a rush of release. It was done. It was finally, truly ended. The Leader was no more.

Leigh had only a moment to bask in the glory of her kill. She'd been too distracted to notice Mick, who had closed his eyes and begun sniffing the air, and was startled back to her senses when he suddenly shouted.

"Beth!"

He took off suddenly with vamp speed toward the small wooden door at the end of the chamber, the place he'd managed to mentally track her scent to, and stopping short right in front of it. Mick's hand immediately flew to the antique handle, and he was astonished to find that it opened easily. Behind that door, however, was another, this one made of solid titanium so thick that not even a vampire could break through it. Mick howled in frustration after several fruitless attempts to break it down. Josef tried several more before he finally conceded that there was no way he'd ever be able to break it. Mick, on the verge of tears, sank down and leaned against the wall beside the doorway. Josef turned and walked away, running a hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration.

"I could get Ryder up here to take a look at this locking mechanism." Josef said, looking at Mick as he paced.

"It wouldn't do any good," Mick said, "They'd never get here in time."

"Well what else am I supposed to do, Mick?"

"I don't know, Josef! But we have to do something!"

"Even if Beth is somehow miraculously still alive-" Josef began. That was the last straw for Mick. The enraged younger vampire leapt to his feet and charged at the older vampire, grabbing him roughly by the collar.

"She's still alive. I can hear her heartbeat."

Josef listened silently for a moment and heard the faint yet rapid pulse behind the door.

"Be that as it may, Mick, we haven't got a lot of options here. We don't know how long she's been-"

"I can crack this." Came Leigh's voice. She was carefully and thoughtfully regarding the locking mechanism.

"You can? Are you sure?" Mick asked desperately, rushing back over to the door.

"Yeah, I'm positive. Give me ten minutes, a flathead screwdriver, and a pair of wire cutters."

Josef took off running to the nearest house for a tool box. He returned several minutes later and sat down on the floor next to Mick as Leigh set to work. He squeezed his younger friend's shoulder in reassurance, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. He knew that any words that came out of his mouth right now would be a lie, and right now the last thing Mick needed was false hope.

Finally, after several eternal minutes, the lock gave a beep. Mick was on his feet and in front of the door in the span of a second.

"Get behind me." He said, manoevering himself in front of Leigh. Inhaling deeply, Mick turned the handle and opened the door, terrified of what he might find.

AN: Yeah, I know, big shocker. Cliffie. As always. Anyway, sorry it took me so long to update...life's been real busy. But hey...here's your update! I'll try not to make you wait so long this time.

Love, Cat.


	14. Behind the Door

Disclaimer: Rights?...Haven't got 'em. DVD set?...Of course!

AN: Well, it's been a long, slow year in I.B. land, where spare time is little and homework runs freely like Niagara Falls. But thank sweet Christ the Gods of summer vacation have finally begun to smile down on me. I know it's been a while, and I'm not sure how many of you are still reading this, but for those of you who are, I appreciate the incredible patience and loyalty you've shown me by continuing to tune in. So here's to you; without you I may never have continued on as long as I have.

The door opened slowly, an ominous creak penetrating the enduring silence. Mick's eyes frantically scanned the room, searching for Beth, praying to a God he'd stopped believing in decades ago. He wouldn't, couldn't believe that she was alright until he saw her with his own eyes, although he was greatly reassured by the strong, steady, rhythmic thrum of a human heartbeat. It was beating at almost twice its normal pace; she was scared.

"Beth?"

"Mick?" Came the small, trembling reply that was so unlike the fiery blonde he knew and loved. She crawled out from the corner she'd been huddled in, rounding the open door. As the light hit her face, she brought a bruised wrist up to shield her eyes.

"Beth!" Mick exclaimed, tears of joy and relief welling up in his eyes. "Beth, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Beth said, sounding a little more like herself, "Just a little banged up..."

While Mick questioned Beth relentlessly regarding her wellbeing, Leigh started toward Kyle. She'd barely even advanced a step when she felt a strong hand grab her arm.

"No." Josef said simply. "You can't go near him. He's not safe."

"Of course he's safe!" Leigh practically yelled, "He loves me. He'd never-"

"He's right."

Leigh, startled, turned to look at the mop of black hair that had spoken.

"No, Kyle, he's not." Leigh replied, trying to sound reassuring but failing to keep the imploring tone out of her voice. "I know you. You're not like them, no matter what-"

"What they've done to me?" Kyle snarled, still hiding his face beneath his shaggy hair. "Do you even have any idea what they've done to me? THEY MADE ME A MONSTER!"

Finally he raised his face to look at her, his face arranged in all its vampire glory. Leigh couldn't help but stifle a gasp. She stared at him for a moment, unable to take her eyes off of him.

Behind Leigh's back, Josef quirked his head to the side, listening.

"Watch Leigh, Mick." Josef muttered, just low enough that Mick could hear him, looking over at where Mick was busy comforting Beth. "Something's going on out there. I'm gonna go check it out."

Mick gave a listen and silently nodded, getting up and taking Josef's place after warning Beth to stay where she was. Truthfully, it wasn't as if she had any sort of mind to argue. Josef took off at top speed out of the room.

After a long, tense, silent moment, Leigh shook her head, tears pouring down her face.

"I still don't believe you're a monster, Kyle."

"I'm dangerous, Leigh!" He raved, his body beginning to shake, "Given half the chance, I'd kill you."

"You wouldn't." Leigh sobbed, shaking her head.

"I would." Kyle whimpered. "Which is why I need you to kill me first."

"What? No!" Leigh shouted, shocked and appalled by his request.

"Please, Leigh, you have to." Kyle sobbed, looking at her half imploringly, half hungrily with white eyes. "It's for your safety."

"Kyle, it doesn't have to go like this," Mick said calmly, looking seriously at Kyle, "I can help you control this thing. It doesn't have to control you."

"You can't possibly help me!" Kyle roared, angry, "No one can help me! I'm an abomination! I don't deserve to live!"

"Kyle, trust me, I've been where you are. It's-"

"Please, Leigh." Kyle whimpered, breaking Leigh's heart with how broken he sounded. "Please, I just wanna die."

"I...Kyle, I can't." Leigh cried, "I love you."

"Then if you love me, if you really love me, you'll put a bullet in my head."

Leigh stared at him for a minute, her hand reaching into her shirt and pulling out the long-forgotten nine-millimeter. She stared at it for a moment, contemplating it. Finally, she shook her head and tossed it away.

"No." She said firmly, "I won't do it."

Suddenly, without warning, Kyle leapt to his feet with lightning speed, roaring angrily. Mick didn't even have time to react as Kyle rushed them, closing the distance between them in mere seconds.

He charged into Leigh and Mick, knocking them both to the ground. Without stopping, he ran out of the vault and out through one of the doors.

Mick allowed himself only a split-second of shocked paralysis before he leapt to his feet, fully vamped-out. He considered for a moment the thought of chasing after Kyle, but there were more pressing matters at hand. He had to ensure Leigh and Beth's safety.

He gave a quick glance over in Beth's direction. She looked positively terrified, but met his eyes and gave him a curt nod, signalling that she was okay. Mick nodded back and turned back to Leigh, helping her to her feet. She groaned as she straightened up.

"I think I cracked a few ribs."

"You should be fine until we can get you out of here." Mick reassured her.

"Where's the fledgling?" came Josef's voice from the doorway.

Leigh and Beth jumped. Mick, who had presumably heard him coming, turned around to face him.

"He steamrolled Leigh and I and ran off. I didn't have a chance to go after him; I couldn't leave them." He gestured to Beth and Leigh.

"Well, we've got slightly bigger problems to worry about now." Josef said seriously.

"What kind of 'slightly bigger problems'?" Mick asked, feeling his stomach sinking.

"The kind that involves us fighting our way out through a hundred and five vamps."

Well, here it is. I know it's short, but I wanted to get something done up for all you faithful readers who've held on as long as you have. I'll try and get another chapter up within the next day or so, but right now it's about a million degrees, plus I've got an epic migraine going on right now, so...not much up to writing any more right now. Thanks again for hanging on!

Love, Cat.


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